Heaven's Knight Player Shirou
by Sun Asunder
Summary: Emiya Shirou has quite a lot on his plate. Studying at Homurahara Academy, Archery practice with Sakura and Ayako, Magecraft lessons from Sella, not to mention dreams about a Crimson Shadow, Heroic Spirits running around and Illya being a Magical Girl? Well he may not know much about the Power of Love but he always did like those shows with the masked heroes...
1. 0-Arrival At Zero

_**Prologue: Arrival At Zero**_

Let us begin with the story of a certain man. The tale of a man who, more than anyone else was set aflame by his ideals and driven to despair by them.

The man had wished that everyone in the world could be happy. It was something that all people would once hold in their hearts, a childish ideal that they would then cast aside.

However that man was different.

He came to know that all lives sat on the scales of balance between sacrifice and salvation. And once he understood that no side of the scales could ever be empty, he steeled his resolve to become the one who would measure the balance of the scales.

If one wishes to reduce the amount of grief coming from the world with the most certainty, this is the only path that can be taken. The path is the act of killing the few in order to allow the many to survive.

There was no question, no doubt of right or wrong in his methods and objective. He became the infallible balance of the scales. The man saved many people and killed many people, with no discrimination. But he realized far too late that to value all humans fairly and equally is the same as to never be loved by anyone.

Perhaps he should feel no anguish, as he perfected himself into a bloodless, tearless measuring instrument, having frozen and mortified his young heart

However that man was different.

A smile of delight would satisfy him. A voice of lamentation would shake his heart.

For one who pursued an ideal beyond the rationality of the world of men.

He was far too human...

So it should come as no surprise that there was a moment, a time when his path that had been unerring followed for so long could be shaken.

For the man who was far too human to 'Sever' his childish ideal and 'Bind' himself to a new path, for the 'one' he choose above the 'many'. Even though he knew it was wrong, in a moment of irrevocable change, he chose not to walk the path of some 'ally of justice' but that of a 'human' and threw away everything he knew and upheld.

In that moment he was no longer a keeper of the balance but a single human who would try to shoulder the ones he cared for most. And in that moment he forgot that just as no side of the scales could ever be empty, no man could ever truly see the cost of his choices until it was too late.

And with tears in his eyes, he watched as a fire more voracious than anything he could ever see devoured a land, that if not for his choice would have been a battleground beyond man. Instead it was now a hell beyond understanding.

And so leaving the 'one' behind, he dove into the flames trying once more to shift the balance of scales, even if he could no longer uphold that childish ideal.

* * *

And in this land that had been freshly rid of all [Life] was 'one' who had succumb to nothingness and yet by some error of Fate was not denied.

And as the [World] burned around his Empty form something shifted and so from the forge of the [Sun] did One returned in a form newly wrought and gleaming White.

And He Woke.

* * *

Barren eyes of gold opened to the fresh raw sound of screams.

Dimly, part of his mind wondered who the source was this time. Another family being devoured by the red flames? No this voice was singular in it's anguish and pain, what's more it felt…familiar, was it someone his age?

That would be surprising as not many of those were able to survive for more than few minutes before succumbing to the hungry heat and stifling air. He pushed his body off the soft and slippery ground with shaky but unyielding limbs and looked around the burnout landscapes somehow feeling that the fire that he had run so far to escape was…lesser somehow.

Maybe he was finally getting used to the choking smoke and licking heat the boy considered while taking a few weak steps, still hearing the weak yet persisting cries though he could no longer see anyone else….

Ah. Of course. The answer was obvious. If there was no one else left to suffer...

Then it must be him.

Oblivious at the cause, he looked down to see his fragile body caked in a thick black mud. Seeing hands constantly dripping with the never lessening substance, one would think it almost benign compared the lung scaring smog and starving conflagration.

So why were already charred nerves screaming at its touch on his skin?

Why did his mind which had already disregarded everything else for survival, wish to embrace even death if it would allow some semblance of escape?

He couldn't answer these questions so he disregarded them easily, stifling the pointless scream. After all compared to the endless voices that both he and the World ignored who would answer a single child?

And so the boy continued on through the crimson blaze away from the ebon muck that he had risen from, not even noticing the whispers it emanated of hate and pain far beyond what had already been witnessed.

* * *

Dragging his body forward he began to smell something strange and noticed that as if something was repelling it, the mud finally flaked off, revealing something rather new to the child.

The boy didn't wonder how his small weakened frame was still functioning even after enduring this ordeal, after all curiosity wasn't particularly important compared to taking the next step forward.

He didn't wonder what might have happened if he chose another direction in his desperate mindless journey, that would be meaningless.

_Though it might have let him escape the flames quicker._

He didn't wonder if he could have helped any of the others he passed, that would be pointless.

_Though they could have helped him survive the flames._

He didn't even wonder what might have happened if he stayed with that tall lady with the kind hazel eyes or the man with copper hair and determined features instead of abandoning them to escape the crimson haze.

_Though he would at least not be punished, bereft of an familial origin._

But if he could still wonder, he might have notice the luminous lines running through his skin a bit sooner.

Still, reasonably sure that glowing was not something normal people did, he felt he could safely say that it was probably the reason why his body could continue on, though how was unknown.

* * *

_Magic Circuits- Newly Opened- Source of Prana...Mana-Danger-Greater Source Tainted- Usage Dangerous._

* * *

He blinked in confusion at the sudden mental ache before shaking it away to looking at the everpresent flames. The thought that they were weaker returned and it 's validity was growing. Compared to how malicious they were before, as if they're only purpose to consume the people around them, now it seems drained…dying.

A moment passed as that thought ran through his mind before he moved at a faster pace. Was he right? Were the flames…ending? He was still alive. Yes the lines were burning his skin, invoking a novel type of pain as they cooked his body from the inside, but he doubted that he would die from it, at least not here. Which meant…that he could do it. Survive.

Despite everything he would live.

_...And then what._

The lines of light vanished.

His deadened eyes widened for just a moment before he tripped over a piece of rubble and crashed on the earth before slumping on his back, all the pain and weakness no longer held back. His enemy now was not the environment but his own self, how ridiculous.

Still….

_Wasn't this enough?_

He had abandoned everything to survive the fire; family, love, faith, even hope had been lost when he collapsed into the black but he had done it. The flames wouldn't kill him, he couldn't even feel their heat anymore as golden eyes stared upwards to the smoke covered sky.

Did he have any reason to continue on? Or could he just lie here until as the last bit of energy left his body? It would be a much easier passing than what was had by all those who had suffered this night. He wouldn't feel any pain just…end.

Unable to find an answer, he raised a hand to the murky sky imploringly, searching for an answer…a reason. An image of a Sun came to his mind, one that would surely answer his question with it's light but the path was too muddy and unclear. Unanswered and left with something too small and impersonal to be called despair his hand lost it's strength and fell as the boy began to close his eyes for what would likely be the final time.

Yet in defiance of this fate, a hand grasped his in mid-fall and the boy looked into a face with messy hair and dark eyes that stared into his with a quiet happiness.

What was this? Why did that face…that look pull at him so? He wanted to ask this man in black so badly with desperation which he thought already extinguished but his body was already failing and will alone was no longer enough.

As if realizing this a light washed over the boy, shielding him with it's strength with it's Truth.

* * *

_Blue and Gold...An Unreachable Dream..._

* * *

It reminded him of the Sun and it's warmth held his body together if just for the moment.

'Please' the boy silently implored despite having abandoned all faith, 'let me find the answer'. Despite his efforts when his eyes closed for what seemed like just a moment, the scenery had changed with him now held in strong arms and a different person standing before him. A woman with beautiful white hair and red eyes that once more held that strange happiness like the man who he realized was the one holding him. Who were these people? How could they find such happiness in him?

Then a glow emanated from the Lady and as the smell of winter filled his nostrils, chasing away the arid smoke something happened. Pain which seemed ingrained into his body fell away like ashes. The weight of suffering gone, he tried to raise a hand only to find it still too weak and drained.

_...Unacceptable._

The lines returned and not noticing the arms supporting him stiffening or the woman's eyes widening, his body strengthened and the hand rose to touch her face gingerly. As if in realization she took the hand into hers and smiled at him gently for a moment before eyes closed for the last time that night and he fell into a deep slumber.

His only wish was that the man and woman would still be there when he woke up.

They were and when an offer was made, the boy accepted without hesitation and found a new path to walk on with new and strange yet priceless people.

The Old Man Kiritsugu, The Noble Lady Irisviel, The Twin Guardians Leysritt and Sella.

Finally there was her, the one he would help like he had been helped. The Little Sister Illyasviel who he would care for as The Older Brother Emiya Shirou.

And he knew that it would be here in this family that he would find his answer.

And so the story of a certain man was just the prologue of another and the path he would take shouldering the Ones that were held above the World.

* * *

**A/N: Despite the fate beginning this is definitely a prisma-verse fic as the ending should tell you. I'm basically assuming that something similar to the Fuyuki fire happened when they tried to shut off the grail system though likely a lesser scale than fate zero's ending. Shirou has a fairly similar mentality to fate but more family centric...with a vague and broad definition of family. Give your criticism and ideas, especially for one off chapters since I'm going to try to emulate Prisma's mix of slice of life and awesomeness.**


	2. 1-The First Step

_**Chapter One: The First Step**_

_He stood before the [Blue Sun] gazing at it's incomprehensible existence, unable to move forward as the last step was missing._

_That step was one that only he could fill but which this empty self was fundamentally incapable of doing so, leaving only an impassable gap before him. Similarly he was unable to go back,as the road that through the rarest of miracles lead him here was cracked and fragile and Broken. Even if it wasn't, a reason to do so did not exist in the being that stood here just before the highest of places. He would be forever content to stay here and stare at the beautiful Sun basking in it's glow._

_But even if he couldn't make a choice the [World] below would not stand still and so something responded._

'_Honestly….to end up here of all places…how ridiculous.'_

_The voice was resigned yet…analytic._

'_A sympathized nature of [Zero]….'_

_A moment of contemplative silence filled the soundless void._

'_Is it that which prevents you from taking that final step? Or do what instincts you have left say what will happen if you do?'_

_The boy did not respond._

'_No answer? Well in your pitiful condition I might as well give some pieces of advice. Still for this meeting to have any meaning the first thing to remember is this, regardless of how much you deviate let one thing remains true across these parallels.'_

_The boy remained motionless though something paused in anticipation as the One before him, twisted and ancient as it was, spoke in a voice that held the air of a forge and with words that held great meaning and purpose that he could almost grasp_

'**Our Bodies are Made of Blades.'**

_A breeze of [Steel] rendered him without mercy, and he found he could not scream as it began engraving…no tracing its meaning onto his empty self, that of blades and those that pushed them to something greater…._

_**Burdened King**_

_**Leashed Hound**_

_**Chaotic Storm**_

_**Fallen Perfection **_

_**Fearful Deceiver**_

_**False Spirit**_

…_**...Red Knight**_

_And so many more like the light delicate stokes of a brush, easily imprinting on his nature for was it not the purest canvas?_

_So an empty White was given [Shape] and [Form] and [Meaning] that could carry it from this place of beginnings. Though what and why and even purpose were yet to be defined, no that would be the world's to give…._

* * *

This was his test.

The failure to step up here would result the one known as Shirou Emiya would be consigned to once more endure creations of alien design as had occurred for the past years since he had been pulled from the small but vicious fire that claimed over a hundred lives.

Those around him were already accustomed to the situation as it was their heritage, even when he was here, his father Kiritsugu did nothing to stand against it. Mainly because even the foreign concoctions were far superior to his…workings.

But Shirou could not accept such a result and so he went to the one responsible and made his case.

"I refuse. Do you really think a child with no knowledge or training can take my role? Know your place."

Once more he implored trying to gain a chance to prove himself perhaps if he could just…

"No, this responsibility is not yours to take….but if you wish to waste resources on this foolish attempt, I will not stop you but first you must go and acquire those resources. Then if you succeed then we shall will see."

With a swish of her white ponytail, this was the declaration of Sella who was the current master of the household now that the Lady and her consort were away.

* * *

Shirou being Shirou of course refused to back down at the task resulting in the current situation.

Scratched his copper hair worriedly, he looked at the list of things that he needed to pick up at the local mart. He had quite a bit of shopping to do, not just for his cooking but to refill the houses stock as well.

Still it would be nice to start having eastern style meals instead of Sella's western ones, not that they weren't good as she was an excellent cook just one who completely avoided doing any Japanese dishes.

So it was his time step up for the sake of the family and supply them with the native dishes of Nippon!

If he could just figure out how to make those type of dishes…well how hard could it be? He thought.

'Uhhh…. So many choices.'

The inexperienced chef stood shocked at the sight of all the different brands and choices, even with his shopping list how was he supposed to know what to choose?

"Alright so, I'm going to need some soy sauce right...And potatoes obviously but which kind? We have snow peas and either beef or pork should do right?"

He looked around the grocery store, since Sella wasn't here he could swallow his pride and ask someone for a little bit of help. That would be fine right?

Looking around intently he noticed a shopper that looked like a quintessential salary man nearby in the produce aisle but before Shirou could move, the man was already walking at a strangely….smooth and efficient pace to the checkout counter.

Gritting his teeth and prepared to just buy whatever looked right, he stepped forward only to pause at the light touch of a small hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see a girl who looked around his age. Her hair was a glossy purple and her eyes has a similar violet sheen, she looked at him hesitantly for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Ano…do you need some help?"

Shirou blinked before sheepishly smiling, how helpless did he look? Still in this kind of situation…

"Um…thanks, I want to make some meat and potatoes stew for my family but I've never really gone shopping before, i guess i could use some help….Oh! Sorry I'm Emiya Shirou nice to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you Emiya-san, my name is Matou Sakura. Umm if you want to make stew, it really depends on what the type of taste you want for example…."

Shirou spent a few minutes listening as she explained how the best choice would be either russet or Yukon potatoes and how the meat (she suggested beef) should be sliced to increase the tenderness.

"Wow you know a lot about cooking Sakura-chan!" Shirou exclaimed brightly at his impromptu sensei, jotting down the info on his list as it was the only spare piece of paper he had, with this he could make an awesome meal for that even Sella couldn't deny.

"It's nothing Emiya-san…I'm used to cooking for my family so it's not a problem…" She spoke hesitantly, shifting her posture.

"After helping me this much why don't you can call me Shirou?!" Shirou folded his arms and scrunched up his face at her response. After some 'gentle persuasion' where Shirou started to call her Sakura-senpai, she relented resulting in Emiya-san being altered to Shirou-san as she gave a small smile.

Taking a hold of the bags filled with food stuffs that Sakura-chan had helped him pick and thanking her profusely, Shirou ran home leaving a slightly befuddled yet curious young girl.

"Emiya….Shirou." After a moment She turned and walked in the opposite direction, deciding to remember that name and the boy with those bright golden eyes and warm auburn hair.

* * *

The adopted Emiya reached home and placed the bags of groceries on the countertop before determinedly taking out the things he would need for his project.

"Onii-chan?" Shirou looked to the side to see his sister with her white hair in short pig-tails looking as him curiously.

"Hey Illya, I going to make something special today just wait!" the enthusiasm in his voice was palpable and after a moment she promptly decided to watch her older brother and the new activity which got him so worked up. It's not like she really anything else to do, the life of a pre-schooler was pretty low pressure.

"Geez you really went all out huh." Sella arrived and watched as the new 'chef' washed his hands in preparation for the task ahead.

"I guess I'll keep an eye to make sure you don't get yourself in trouble." She settled down next to Illya as Shirou gathered the kitchenware anxiously, she noted that he picked one of the more worn knifes than the set she had recently bought.

After sharpening it with a honing steel, he used the knife to slice the ingredients into thin shapes like Sakura advised him. It should result in the stew being nice and soft for serving.

As they watched as he prepared the food constantly referring to a small sheet of paper with notes scribbled on it. To Sella it was actually fairly amusing to see the preteen seriously measuring out spices and constantly double checking everything as if he was conducting a greater ritual and not making an everyday meat dish.

A few minutes later Shirou tentatively placed a plate in front of the two albinos, trepidation evident on his face. Each took a serving and tried it speculatively, Illya thought it looked and tasted kind of normal for all the excitement but it was fun eating something that big brother cooked for her while Sella noted how it was slightly overcooked and lacking certain spices but better than she expected, maybe the boy should learn some cooking after all.

Shirou let out a light sigh as he saw his sister and guardian eat the food with slight smiles and felt a pleasing amount of satisfaction at the sight.

"So...It's good right?"

"Hmm…" Shirou's eyes quickly focused on the source and his true judge, the Iron Chef of Einzbern.

"Shirou...why do you want to cook so badly? The Lady left Leysritt and I here to take care of you two while she is gone. You should rely on us…"

Shirou shifted his footing before looking to the side and revealing his motive. "Well…it just that…Sella can only make western-style dishes, so…."

"Gaa-wha?" Sella reeled back as memories of the numerous failed attempts to learn Japanese cooking struck her. It was easy to ignore when no one called her out on it but her cooking skills were Sella's most valued ability next to magecraft and infinitely more practical in the suburban household.

"What's wrong with western food?! And as the eldest son there's no need to bother with it."

Shirou back up a little at this before looking away, he just wanted to do something for everyone….

Sella noticed what she had done and tried to come up with some way to fix her outburst when another decided to interject.

"I wanna eat it."

Both turned at Illya who was still eating from the dish with a smile on her face.

"Yeah! Food made by Onni-chan is always good to eat." At this declaration Shirou felt sheepish and a light blush came up, still hearing that from his little sister was nice and reassuring. Was this the pride of an older sibling?

Sella realized then what the best way to make up for her unguardian-like behavior was and took immediate action.

"Shirou I may not be…suited to eastern food but I'll help you get better if you want to cook meals for us every now and then…after all it obvious that you tried you very best to make this."

"Thanks…Sella."

Shirou let out a satisfied sigh at helping out even if it was something as small as this. Even if he would need help like what Sakura-chan, it was worth every bit of effort.

"Now Shirou for your first lesson never forget to clean up your mess afterwards.

Ah that's right his trial wasn't done just yet and he gathered the dirty dishes and cutlery with a small content smile.

In fact it was just beginning.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah just a little bit of reworked slice of life prisma canon, next chapter is where we get some actual magecraft but for now hope this entertains.**


	3. 2-The World Revealed

**Chapter Two: The World Revealed**

The blade danced, razor edge separating the target into clean precise pieces as the wielder continued with clear focused eyes. His overseer looked on impassively; initially she had been surprised when his skill had picked up substantially after a fair amount of lessons especially with blades but he had admirable focus to go with his determination.

In a few minutes Shirou served a light miso soup breakfast which Sella deemed acceptable and Illya declared delicious while Liz withheld judgement...or may she just really care it was hard to tell.

Even if it was only occasionally, adding some eastern flavour to the normally western meals was something that Shirou was quickly becoming used to despite his inexperience. Still as the only person in the house who was an actually Japan-born native it was his duty to so and everyone seemed to enjoy it much to his gratification.

"Wow it's even better today, Onii-chan can you make me a bento to take."

Illya had no problem with encouraging Shirou's new hobby and having a bento to take to pre-school would be great.

"Sure, Illya I can make something up before classes start."

He hadn't made a bento yet but with Sella' help, he was sure that he could make something nice and sweet from Illya to have.

He might be a bit young to be learning how to cook, in fact he didn't think anyone in his class was interesting in it since there wasn't a cooking club. They were all into sports like kendo and there was even someone whose family owned a dojo.

He knew that couldn't match Sella's experienced cooking of course but he didn't really need to as long as he could help around the house. With her help in understanding the Japanese recipes, and giving him tips that applied to cooking in general, Shirou felt his skill improving but something about his dishes always tasted different from Sella's….

Obviously there was a difference between cultural dishes, varying spices, ways of cooking and tastes could determine a lot but this felt deeper somehow. With all of her dishes they just seemed _better _and not just compared the things he made but the only common factor was a strange lingering smell unlike any spice he knew.

The question lingered but remained unanswered until one day after dinner, Illya had gone to bed leaving Shirou staring at the dish that Sella had made intently. His guardians looked at him curiously as the question was something he wanted to figure out himself and so kept to himself.

After a moment of looking at the dish he took a deep sniff before nodding and walking over to Liz and Sella. The two were surprised at Shirou's expression when he faced them, full of adorable preteen conviction and accusation.

A finger pointed at his guardian, the Emiya made his triumphant declaration.

"Cheater."

Nonplussed, Sella had to ask.

"And how am I a… _cheater_ young master?"

"I finally figured out why your food tastes better than mine."

His vigorous nods were met with confusion, even Liz's customary listless expression now sported a raised eyebrow towards Sella. What was he talking about?

"What are you talking about?"

"You know...that thing that I think only you guys can do. I'm not really sure what you call it…but Kaa-san and Tou-san had it and so do you Sella but only sometimes. Whenever it happens I get a strange type of smell, Tou-san starts to smells like…old dust and ash and mom smells kinda like you, like something… kinda minty."

His guardians looked at him in befuddlement, Sella took a moment to think Shirou's strange statements through. Strange smells? But only sometimes and only with She and his parents and it had something to do with the taste of meals?

Shirou wasn't the type of child to say meaningless or confusing things out of boredom, and she didn't think Shirou had anything wrong with his sense of smell…Something began to unconsciously gather in her mind but she needed more information.

"When was the first time you…smelled something like this?"

Sella would always…remember this moment as the wilful look in Shirou's warm brown eyes died. Not just because it would change how her role towards her charge but because of that look that at first superficially reminded of her fellow maid but was much more wrong.

"It was when I was in the fire and hurt…when I was taken away by tou-san and later when kaa-san helped me, made the pain go away."

No it wasn't like Leysritt at all, not bored or listless like a being born unable to express it's emotions properly.

No…the way to describe it would be hollow and distant as if something essential ripped away, leaving an empty intensity. Seeing it on a child's face unsettled her deeply, unsettled a being that been born to be an uncaring tool of a family that epitomized the lengths which their kind would go to for their desires.

But this wasn't the time to think about the life she had before the mistress had taken her here. No this last piece of information allowed Sella to reach a conclusion that as unlikely as it seemed, fit the details completely.

"Shirou…was it something like this."

She opened her circuits fully and began circulating prana though them. Shirou took a moment to inhale deeply through his nostrils before nodding at his guardian.

"Haaa, I really wasn't expecting something like this."

With a short diagnostic cantrip, any doubt was erased form her mind. Twenty-seven circuits in all, opened yet disused. Overall it was more than the average first generation magus though their quality was low.

She didn't know how to deal with this, this home was to be a safe place away from the life of the moonlit world so she would need to consult the Lady but first…

"Shirou to answer your question, what you sensed was a minor…act that people like your parent and I can learn to do. It's name is Thaumaturgy and it's a secret that I'm trusting you to keep secret. I don't use it to beat you at cooking, just as a small bit of practice to keep my skills from diminishing."

"Oh…that's alright Sella. I won't tell anyone about it and get you in trouble but...um can you teach me how to do it? I mean if it can work with Japanese dishes too then my cooking can get better right?"

His eyes now held the look of determination and inquisitiveness that was common when she instructed his cooking, it was much more preferable to the barren gaze but still troublesome in it's own way.

She expect it of course as Shirou didn't realize what he was asking, what magecraft was, but knowing full well how stubborn Shirou could be only one response came to mind.

"…Ask your parents."

Her charge's eyes widened in true despair at her answer and it's implications. While she was very knowledgeable about magic, to learn from the Mistress Irisviel would result in things might become rather…enthusiastic. Yes that would be the nicest way to put it.

Her fellow guardian gave her a look that seemed blank but to one who knew her clearly asked 'really?' before giving her analysis in a monotone.

"Ah…Sella's running away?"

Hey she may be a dedicated maid/guardian/homunculus/magus but everyone had limits and taking away Irisviel's opportunity to teach Shirou would definitely cross it.

Still a shiver ran through Sella as memories of the absent Lady's attempts at even simple things tended to go.

_Lady Irisviel please don't put that daikon there it might hurt someone._

_The hose isn't for washing down children no matter how dirty they are._

_No street racing with the Fujimura gang even if that Tiger vouches for you. _

As she watched Shirou steel himself to call his parents, her mind continues to work against her by calling unbidden images of what would Irisviel's training consist of.

_Ok Shirou-chan first thing you need to learn is how to dodge magic razor wire and later Kerry can teach you how to set explosives to affect building structural points._

Damn you conscience! Why did she even have one of those anyway?

"Shirou….we can tell your parents when they return from their trip, in the meantime…"

Take a breath Sella. Maybe it won't be too bad and the Lady will agree that as a homunculus designed with optimized magic circuits and knowledge, being Shirou's teacher was clearly the reasonable option. That could happen right? The Kaleidoscope was infinite after all.

"I will take some time to educate you on what to expect so that when the lady returns you won't be…unprepared."

As those adorable orbs of hazel glimmered with hope and gratitude, she knew that there was no going back now.

Heaven help her.


	4. 3-The Path Shown

**Chapter Three: The Path Shown**

Shirou Emiya was having a good day.

Currently he was just helping an old lady carry some bags to her house from the shopping district, she said that her husband normally helped out but was visiting their family in Canada.

For the past few days instead of just teaching him magic or rather magecraft, magic was apparently a lot harder; Sella had mainly been teaching him about the other side of the world. It was interesting to hear about a part of the world that only certain people knew about called the moonlit world.

Where magi studied their craft with unbending purpose and learned how to defy common sense through sheer will and perseverance.

Of course he wasn't a magi yet, and from what Sella mentioned he didn't think that he would ever be. Studying for the sake of it didn't interest him and apparently that was pretty much all that magi did, he thought that she might be upset but instead she was…relieved?

Apparently the main goal of magi was to find this thing called Akasha which was from what he gathered, was like a giant computer that knew about everything in the universe and controlled how stuff worked.

Like God if it was a place instead of a person which he guessed made magi a type of priest. Though when he made that analogy Sella just looked at him funny before shaking her head and telling him not to repeat it to anyone from the Church.

He took the warning seriously since apparently the Church had a lot of priests that fought vampires when they're not talking about religion which Shirou thought was awesome.

Though he didn't get why the vampires were called Dead Apostles, apparently it had something to do with them worshiping the moon?

Was that why they fought? Some magi apparently hunted vampires as well so Shirou surmised that religion was very weird and complicated before moving on to simpler things.

Like the idea that the planet didn't like people, except that part of it did because people were a part of the planet and the two sides sometimes argued. After that bit of info, Shirou began to feel that the planet was in need of a bit of therapy.

Maybe Gaia would start feel a bit better if he did something nice like making a little vegetable garden or starting a recycling campaign at school. He'd ask Sella when he got home.

Still musing about how to fix the planet and helping old ladies aside times were going well especially today because Sella had started to teach him how to control his circuits and learn magecraft now that he finally got his trigger ready.

A Trigger to activate one's magic circuits could be any kind of stimuli, in most cases simply mental sensations, and was essentially unique to the user.

It was the first step to becoming a magic user and Shirou was finally to take it.

He thought about just testing out the trigger and seeing the luminous lines activate around his body but Sella had warning him strenuously about concealing the existence of magic.

'It's already a burden asking her to teach me, I can't do something to get Sella mad or in trouble'

He said farewell to Mackenzie-san and went on his way home, thinking about what he would learn from Sella. It would probably get a while till he could learn whatever she used to make her food better, it was called 'reinforcement' and could be used to improve anything.

Magic was so amazing!

* * *

"To be a magi is to walk with death, that is the first rule of magi."

Well that didn't seem nice.

_Sealing Designations_

_Purges_

_Executors_

_Counter Guardians…_

Shirou barely moved as Sella spoke about the various dangers that the world contained and how interrelated magecraft was to them. Power called to power, by creating a stronger connection to the world with Thaumaturgy one risked their actions having a larger and uncontrollable impact on the world and on those close to them.

Sella saw as his eyes changed from eager to…something approaching fearful as she laid bare the world's truth. That was good, without fear a magi would die and if the fear made his abandon his desire for knowledge then that would be best of all.

"Does...does that." His throat was suddenly far too dry. "If I learn magic…magecraft will I be putting you…everyone in danger?

It was an interesting first question. The answer was something that was practiced in most magi lineages. In the case of second children, they were normally raised completely ignorant of magecraft to keep them disconnected from the world.

"So…Illya…" Shirou felt a bit of uncomfortable tension, already he tried to do his best of the family but if him learning magic meant that she couldn't then was that being selfish? Or was he protecting her from the World's influence?

"There are no plans to teach the young lady nor were there plans to teach you. We are different from most magi or even the unorthodox spellcasters, the mistress wants to keep…to protect these everyday lives."

**To Protect.**

Even before Shirou never complained when mom and dad went on their trips, though he understood when Illya mentioned how weird it was. Still as long as everyone was alright little things like that didn't matter and it was nice to know that his parents felt the same way.

"Of course I wish for that as well….to keep you and Illya in this peaceful life that we have."

Sella remembered when she and Liz were first brought here by Irisviel from winter clad Germany to eastern Nippon. It had been months before they felt comfortable enough to stop wearing the customary Einzbern maid uniforms despite the strange looks that it got them.

And that was with Irisviel dragging them shopping and forcing them to try on what she wanted.

"Young master…tell me tomorrow if you wish to continue on this path."

Shirou's expression changed to plain shock but he was unable to say anything before being cut off.

"I will not have a problem with teaching you magecraft. Even Illya despite her ignorance possesses her own connections to the other World and you won't be in danger with me and Liz here. Your parent entrusted you and your sister to us for a reason; me for my own skills in thaumaturgy and Liz has her own impressive strengths. We will keep you safe."

With that she left the boy alone to think, believing that she had done the best she could to instil in him the danger of the Moonlit World.

And she did which is why, the one thought that ran through the Emiya's mind was

_'But who will keep you safe?'_

* * *

Shirou Emiya was not having a good day

He couldn't really focus in class at all, though his teacher didn't seem to notice. His mind kept on drifting to everything that Sella had told him and how dangerous the world really was. He thought that any danger would be stopped by the groups like the Church and the Association and in the worst possible way he was right.

The world was such that everyone he knew…no the entire town could be erased if something bad or important enough happened and something powerful took note. His parents and guardians knew this and tried to help somehow but would they be enough?

How could he let his family walk with death for him?

What could he do to help his family, keep them safe?

What could one boy who didn't know anything do against dangers he couldn't even understand?

These questions tore at him incessantly even as he went on his way home to give his answer.

He wasn't going to get anywhere like this. He needed something

Then he passed by the park to see someone from his class, Gaisuke with a bunch of slightly older looking boys. Were they friends?

As one of the older boys then pushed Gaisuke against a tree, probably not.

Two minutes Shirou felt relieved at finding something much easier to resolve. Namely by punching someone in the face, admittedly he was losing even with Gaisuke backing him up but…

"What with this guy, he just doesn't go down."

One of them muttered as he tried to punch Shirou and succeeded only to get a returning blow right back in his stomach.

"Hah Shirou right? Thanks man you've got some awesome fighting spirit there!"

Gaisuke appeared to be having the time of his life, his wild hair flaring as he did something to trip one of the older boys and sent him tumbling into the dirt.

"He-heh thanks Gaisuke, who are these guys?"

His giant grin shrank as he punched another bully into the ground.

"Just some losers who are jealous of my brother and think they can mess with him through me."

"And they are going to regret they were ever born."

Shirou looked behind him at the speaker to see a blond boy that resembled Gaisuke but with flat hair. Gaisuke's apparent brother then took over the flow of the scuffle as the other boys shifted their attentions to him.

Still with the help, the fight turned into a rout with Gaisuke and his brother barely taking any hits as they fought why Shirou simply failed to register the blows despite the boys being bigger than him.

Soon the bully broke apparent and fled leaving a panting but smiling trio. Shirou wiped his forehead, flinching slightly as he brushed against a bruise before he noticed the two siblings looking at him.

"Emiya-san right? Thanks for helping my brother. Those idiots were some people from my class that were just jealous about my family's dojo. I…kinda made a fool of them a couple times but I didn't expect them to pull something like this. Sorry that you got dragged into it but thanks for your help, the Gakumazawa never forget a favour. So if you have anyone you need to take down a peg."

His statement was punctuated with a hammering of his fist together but Shirou waved him off awkwardly, before looking at the brothers with not a small amount of consideration.

'Family could fight together right?'

* * *

"Ow ow Oooww!"

Shirou hissed as the alcohol soaked piece of cotton was rubbed against his battle wounds but Sella look at him with an expression of callous disregard and apathy. If he was going to get himself if silly fights then he would have to bear the pain that came with it.

Putting a bandage firmly on his cheek and steeping back, she saw that his hazel eyes were no longer clouded with indecision.

"So…you decided?"

She didn't really think that he would give up, despite hoping for it. No she knew the boy and his determination better than that. He wouldn't run because the world was dangerous things because….

_You can't protect anything by running away_

"I don't want to hide from things without even trying to understand and face them. So please Sella-sensei teach me not just about magecraft but about everything that tou-san and kaa-san are protecting us from."

His statement held no hesitation despite knowing about the effect that it would have on his life. If he could protect those he value then his will wouldn't not change.

Because that's who Shirou Emiya was.


	5. 4-The Challenges Ahead

**Chapter Four: The Challenges Ahead**

Fate is a strange word. The implication that one's path can be in some ways predetermined. How the choices one makes in accordance to who they are will lead them onto an established result. In the strictest of terms this can be taken to be an undeniable judgement resulting in an inevitable end.

In it's English origins the word 'fate' was initially linked to another word which later on began to carry rather unfortunate implications. This word meant judgement in the sense of a judicial sentence in the old English but now refers to an ill fortuned destiny. Having changed in structure over the years this term is now colloquially known as 'Doom'.

Judgement, predetermination and ill fortune. Is it a coincidence that these terms are all connected to such a simple word as 'fate'? Or does it lie in the idea that one's choices, one's expression of who they are, will inevitably be judged either by the World or an unknown Almighty. That is a question which is best suited to those scholars who study and debate on the English language, philosophy and its roots.

Shirou Emiya is not one of those scholars.

But perhaps he would be interested in learning of the philosophy that one's choices, for good or for ill will, inevitably lead to judgement by a higher force.

However it would be only a small comfort for him as he stood before one who would take the position of the Almighty and condemn without hesitation or mercy.

"So~ Shirou-chan~ did Sella teach you a lot while we were gone?"

Shirou did not respond to the innocent sounding question from the white-haired god-level being as to do so without proper consideration would lead to a certain bad end. Instead his eyes, which were filled with a terrible desperation, sought out his father, Emiya Kiritsugu the man who was known throughout the dark side of world as the Magus Killer.

This being who had carved a reputation worthy of fear in mercenary, magi and even dead apostles alike studied his son and his predicament with a single glance using observational skills that had been trained in countless battlefields before coming to a singular logical conclusion.

'Sorry son you're on your own.'

And so he walked away without even considering looking back and left his scion to his self-inflicted doom. Kiritsugu was far too unprepared and ill-equipped to even considering taking on a foe as powerful as the Irisviel, not to mention in dire need of a nap.

Shirou could get out of this on his own…probably.

Feeling slightly less certain about his chances, Shirou used his own observational skills to notice that his mother was still waiting for his response, his father had abandoned him to instead carry luggage to the master bedroom, Sella was currently suspended in mid-air by silver thread, Liz was watching all this happen from the sidelines and Illya was at her friend's place which meant that Shirou couldn't use her presence as a reason to postponed the 'discussion'.

He really should have worked out what he was going to say to his mother but the affirmation of his goals and subsequent learning of the arcane arts kinda distracted him.

"Ahem."

Irisviel was still looking at him with closed eyes and a gentle smile but the aura in the room had gotten somewhat heavier.

Oh right.

Once again. Mom's back; with magic, waiting for an answer, probability of punishment-high.

Maybe he should answer her.

"Um…yes?"

She was still was not good.

"…Maybe?"

The room got heavier still. She was still smiling.

Children may not be very good at it but on average they tend to be very deceitful creature. The impulse to lie and blame someone else for their problems is something that they only learn to suppress or at least conceal when they grow older.

Shirou Emiya was not one of those children. His nature was not conducive to lie and not just because he was really really bad at it. However what he was good at was the ability to say what he believed with such devoted conviction that none could deny it.

Clenching his trembling hand, he looked right at his mother to make his declaration.

"I…Kaa-san I want to learn magic! I mean magecraft! I know that you and tou-san are fighting for us and I won't let you do it alone! I…want to help as much as I can."

There was a pause before Irisviel finally opened her crimson eyes to look at her adorably rebellious son. She felt Sella try to test the alchemically created bindings and proceeded to tighten the thread, not that the magecraft-inclined homunculus would have an actual problem escaping from them but she accepted that she had to be punished for her overstep.

She mentioned when they checking in over the phone that Shirou had asked about magecraft but neglected to mention the decision to train him by herself. Honestly taking this away from her, what was Sella thinking? Even Kiritsugu wouldn't dare challenge her right to…educate. Still in a way it was her fault….

"Shirou...why didn't you wait to ask me? Or your father?"

His answer was immediate and with the tone of one speaking the obvious.

"I thought you wouldn't like it."

Well that was...simple. And not entirely inaccurate.

"Shirou if you knew that why did you do it?"

"Sella told me how hard being a magus is and how dangerous the world can be. Before I was fine when you and tou-san went on trips, thinking that you had work that you needed to do but if you are fighting for me and Illya…I can't let you walk alone." Never again.

Irisviel Von Einzbern didn't really think about it, she simply took the child into her arms and held him there firmly, not even paying attention as the bindings holding Sella fell apart. The memory came without effort as Shirou futilely tried to struggle and escape from her hold. Of one of the most important memories she had made with her strange family and one of the saddest.

Of the little boy who despite the trauma done to him by her family's actions looked at her with eyes of such complete desire and longing. Trying to reach out to her with a body already past it's breaking point and almost failing…only to use some kind of weak instinctive reinforcement to succeed. The core of Magecraft was delusion and will so what did it mean that for the oblivious child who lost everything?

Shirou finally stopped his escape attempts and instead starting mumbling about how she was embarrassing him in front of Liz and Sella who were admittedly looking on.

"Ah…Shirou loves his mommy."

Irisviel just laughed at the twin blush spots on his face as the Emiya grumbled about not even Liz was taking him seriously.

Her little boy was growing up so fast but that would be fine as long as they could help him when he stumbles.

* * *

"I apologize for overstepping my boundaries my Lady."

Her posture was no longer that of the trusted guardian but of the Einzbern maid. Even Kiritsugu noticed it and he was ridiculously bad with people.

"Oh hush, it's fine even if I am a bit disappointed that you took away my chance to educate Shirou. I had so many good ideas, well there's still time…"

Despite the earnest apology, Sella could not deny feeling a bit of vindication about her decision and the worries about Iri's teaching. Not that she would ever say it out loud.

"What have you taught him so far?"

She looked at the technical lord of the household and speaker. His black eyes glimmered with focus as if completely prepared to analysis everything she said. That look would have put her on guard but the once empty eyes of the Magus Killer had become cleaner and more…alive than the man who the Enizbern's had hired years ago.

"I've gone over much of the moonlit world; organizations, dangers and the general things that everyone who is a part of it even if they aren't magi knows. In terms of magecraft Shirou is dedicated but the results are…complicated. I taught him some basic magic, mainly reinforcement since he was already interested in it but results were…"

_"Why does everything keep exploding!"_

"We had some better success with novice mental manipulation but he doesn't seem suited at most natural interference thaumaturgy even with the five great elements. I gathered that since he can generate suitable levels of prana that he likely had an unorthodox element so I was actually waiting for you to return so that his element could be determined..."

Sella trailed off when she noticed the distinct lack of surprise that they were showing. Non-standard elements were quite unusual and while she didn't expect the unflappable magus killer to be shocked, some visible consideration would be nice. Even the lady just looked distant and with a hint of displeasure.

"You knew…about his element? I…I assumed that you didn't want him to be taught."

Kirisugu shifted and gave a questioning glance to Iri which surprise and also worried Sella. She had been with them for years, they trusted her with their children and even the details on Illya's lock were given freely. So what was this?

She soon got her answer.

"Shirou's magic circuits were opened in wake of the Fuyuki Fire."

Irisviel began with an almost mournful countenance and Sella could almost see the memories rising in her mind from their impact on her face.

"We're not sure how but with the amount of raw tainted prana almost suffocating the area and even replacing the mana something happened. But the result we believe was Shirou taking in that power and somehow instinctively using it to reinforce his body and survive until Kiritsugu found him. Kerry didn't realize it until he brought Shirou to me for healing away from the site. His…his body was in ruins not just from the fire but from using that tainted prana. I didn't understand how his magic circuits could even process it without self-destructing. It seemed like a miracle that I was able to heal him though that may be thanks to Kerry as well."

But Kiritsugu did not look happy despite saving his son being one of the proudest moments of his life. Because…

"After the adoption, we decided to examine him in depth just to know if his body was alright and what we found was... an improbable combination..or rather it was a miracle in the truest sense. What it might mean for his future and not even as a magi but as a person was hard to tell. We didn't even want him to know about magecraft because it might set him on a path where it would harder for him to live as a human. But for him to choose the path on his own in order to help us…I suppose children grow fastest when you aren't looking….And all we can do is help pave the way."

For everything they worked for…what else could they do but try to ensure that their children could escape the shadow of that ritual and the wishes entrusted to it.

* * *

AN: I think this might count as the end of the first arc which I shall tentatively name "Cooking With Death". As my first real semi-planned story I hope the humor and family waff are to your liking, if not give your feedback and advice. I'm also looking for a beta so PM me if any of you are interested.


	6. 5- A Look Back

**Chapter Five: A Look Back**

In a not so ordinary town, was a not so ordinary house filled with several not so ordinary people. Despite possessing their own unique talents and skills, this group of people were normally content to live a oh so ordinary life.

However one of these people, though appearing the most mundane in composition would on occasion do not so ordinary things. Things like going against the will of the planet mano a mano. Yes alone in his utterly mundane room which contained such items as a desk, bookshelf and a bed was a certain Shirou Emiya ready to conduct his experiment against the World and his own limitations.

He relaxed his body and with a simple intonation almost as an afterthought pathways linking to his soul were opened.

"Trace. On."

It was already instinctive and while his circuits may be of average composition and their quality low, Shirou Emiya never bemoaned their state. Why would he? Why it may not have been _rare_ for a regular person to have circuits but it was certainly uncommon and he had twenty which was more than the average first generation magus.

So like most things in life, He accepted it without complaint and worked to use what he had as best he could. Which lead to this.

He had failed before but even if he was just a spellcaster didn't mean he couldn't come up with ideas. The problem was one that other magi would have abandoned long ago in search of easier mysteries, admittedly due to the perception of uselessness that the spell had.

Even Shirou could admit that the spell had little value but it was still magecraft of natural interference and one of the simplest ones available. If he could find a way to succeed in it despite his shortcomings then he could do the same for greater mysteries.

The thesis he had devised was simply, the main flaw with the spell was a lack of knowledge. The more you knew the greater the result. It was a simple fact of study that could apply to any field. Of course the result would still be mundane as the human mind couldn't contain that kind of information for long but if he could just get the proof of concept…

It would mean that yes he could succeed as long as he possessed enough knowledge. Even if he had no lineage or great circuits or even a usable element. All he had to do was succeed.

Which had led to this little experiment.

The test subject held in his right hand was simple and mundane in every way. Comprised of a generic un-spiritually influenced steel alloy {1.9% carbon}{97%iron}{1.1%numerous trace elements} and aged through constant use in the kitchen.

The blade was dulled but even with his skills, reinforcing the edge or perhaps using alteration to give a concept of sharpness was possible. That wasn't the point as his skills in alteration and reinforcement were…well not good in fact they were rather half-baked. Though metal objects were generally more receptive to his magecraft for some reason even that wasn't certain.

He had long since abandoned his dreams of reinforcing his food and overthrowing Sella's position as head chef…at least through magecraft. Still the point of this experiment had nothing to do with cooking or sharping a dull knife.

The blade was something that he had used for cooking for years and one that he understood as well as any experienced cook would which made it the best tool to test his theory.

"Trace. On."

And now using structural analysis on it to gather as much knowledge as he could, he knew more about his tool better than any mundane chef could.

Gordon Ramsay eat your heart out.

His left hand opened tentatively in anticipation. The information he gathered, the knife's structure and design were still in his mind. He could even see the history of how he used it through his reliable and steadily practiced 'Structural Analysis'. To his excitement the information did not seem to fade or unduly stress his mind even without using mental techniques to increase his concentration.

This should work, it had to.

With all 27 circuits needlessly primed he closed his eyes and began converting od into the refined prana needed to enact mysteries.

'Judging the concept of creation'

_A knife, a blade, a tool._

'Analyzing basic structure of components'

_Exact mixture of iron, carbon and trace elements…_

'Duplicating the composition materials'

_Prana wrought into transient elements…into steel…._

'Imitating the skill of its making'

_Machine forged, just one of many….yet singular…_

'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth'

_Years spent in preparation of ingredients…_

'Reproducing the accumulated years'

_Current form of three years…_

'Excelling every manufacturing process'

_Projection of existence…._

He released the energy in a burst of prana and felt exultation as a weight felt into his hand.

Golden eyes opened in excitement only to dim at what laid in his palm. It was not a cooking knife like the one Shirou had used to create countless meals. No it was just a dull somewhat knife shaped white clump. He knew what it was of course though he examined it with structural grasp just to make sure.

Yep despite having a distorted history of being used to prepare dishes the result was…Liquid Clay otherwise called an Ether Clump, a well-known result of failure.

Shirou Emiya was not a person prone to depression but his element was beginning to get extremely annoying.

He compared the cooking knife to it's failed imitation before using alteration to give the original a newly honed edge and squeezing the fake into…well a clump.

Another day, another failure.

With a sign Shirou got up and left the small and concealed boundary field in his room that contained the excess prana. While the house was free of such things as the only actively practicing spellcaster he had to contain his mess.

He looked at the clock before unlocking the door and heading out. He could probably get some cooking done for dinner…but this was Sella's time to cook and she would have no mercy for the uppity preteen trying to take more of her work.

He turned on the TV and began flicking through what was on. Iron Chef was on but that would just be going down a dark road of temptation for the Emiya and he wasn't into much anime…maybe a super sentai? Those were always nice.

He turned off his mind to watch the forces of good enact their weekly triumph over evil. He wondered if there were any mystic codes that would let someone fight as a super warrior, probably since enforcers and executioners did kill monsters for a living but theirs were probably less flashy.

"Shirou spends a lot of time alone in his room…"

The speaker was Liz, who somehow began lazing on the couch without him noticing. The persistent look with dull red eyes reminded him of her question. What was she talking about? Does she want to know how he's doing at magecraft?

"Yeah this time I spent a lot of time preparing, but it wasn't really worthwhile."

Sella shifted up and look more alert…well for her.

"Oh what happened?"

Shirou just shrugged after going through his process in his mind.

"Not sure…I had the perfect image in my head but not matter how hard I tried…"

"Nothing happened?"

"Oh well some stuff came out but it's not like I can use it for anything."

Then the generic sentai show ended and was quickly followed by a generic magical girl anime. Shirou saw that Liz was now entranced by the bright and colourful animation and took that as a cue to leave. Maybe he would take a walk outside.

A moment later Sella walked in to get the kitchen ready and noticed her counterpart.

"Liz have you seen Shirou? Or the young lady for that matter?"

"Shirou made a Clay. Got bored. Left."

Sella blinked for a moment in surprise that the young master had reached that point in his magecraft and a bit put out that he talk about it with Liz before her. She was his teacher after all.

Still it was probably an accident he didn't consider talking about and with the family resources it would unlikely that they would be able to use an ether clump to make anything interesting. Shirou didn't have much interest in familiars or boundary fields, either of which would fit his ether element fairly well.

He, like most young boys, was more interested in the type of magic that blew things up with extreme prejudice than that which offered a greater understanding of the World.

Sadly an ether element was not very useful for direct combat and Shirou knew that. Still sometimes Sella wondered what would happen if he had learned to use an element for which the _only _purpose was direct combat but she knew that the decision was for the best.

Let Shirou learn magecraft, but what kind of parents would they be to let the boy they had already hurt make himself into a weapon?

* * *

"I really should have worn a coat."

Shirou wasn't sure what it was about the cold but he just didn't like it. Even the slightly brisk air was uncomfortable and made him feel…brittle.

He rubbed his hands together and wondered where he was heading. Maybe he would stop by Gaisuke's place? He had a long standing invitation to their dojo after the incident a year ago, they even offered the make him a student.

He refused despite still being friendly with them at school because the…mentality of Gakumazawa clan was off-putting to say the least. Still it would probably be a better use of his training time, martial arts were a lot more practical for protecting something than ether magecraft.

Even enforcers normally had extremely trained bodies despite possessing magecraft that was likely a lot more powerful and mysterious than anything an almost teen from Fuyuki could come up with.

Maybe he should start learning how to set more useful boundary fields. But from what little advice the old man gave him, that field of thaumaturgy had several weak points that made it seem impractical as a defense. Anything he could come up with could be detected by an passing magi and if they found the points he used to maintain the field there was little that he could use to defend it.

His main weakness was that he needed to maintain the appearance of normality that his parent wished for them. A little magecraft in the comfort of his room was fine but making long-lasting Boundary fields or familiars?

The prana needed to maintain such creations would be a beacon to everything supernatural that said 'Hey you know that family comprised mainly of Germanic albinos that appeared after the horrible fire a couple years ago? Call me crazy but I think there's something off about them.'

Hah…protecting family was hard.

Suddenly Shirou noticed that a familiar smell had been following him for a while…a very familiar smell.

His eyes narrowed before he turned around a corner and quickly got out of immediate sight. His suspicions were confirmed when a six year old Illyasviel von Einzbern came into view dressed in a purple sweater. She began looking around in every direction for her target not knowing that the hunter had now become the hunted.

Honestly what was she doing out of the house? Shirou was so caught up in the dangers of the moonlit world that he forgot the need to protect the most minuscule of the family from ordinary dangers. Still Illya needed to be punished for disobeying the rules and as the closest authority figure Shirou took on the role with pride.

"Gotcha!"

After attacking with stealth that would make the Hassan-i-Sabah shed a tear, Shirou delivered righteous justice onto the perpetrator.

"Hahaha-Onii—hahhaha-Onii-chan-quit-it!"

Strategic attacks on her weak points sent the felon into immediate submission.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say and do will be used against you in a court of Sella. You do not have the right to an attorney. You do have the right to be tickled for as long as deemed necessary. Do you understand the terms I have just read to you?"

Illya's immediate response was to go and clobber him with chubby little fists. Silly girl your blows have no power here.

* * *

Five minutes later the duo was at a nearby tea shop at Verde shopping center where Shirou treated Illya to some cake. She still hadn't forgiving him for embarrassing her but accepted the tribute regardless. Shirou didn't worry about it even though as females, even preschool ones are notoriously temperamental in his mind with the minor exclusions of Sella and…

"I don't like her." Illya said with a scrunched up face. Shirou just sighed in response at Illya's motivation. Apparently she thought that he was going to meet his fellow student of the culinary arts. He didn't know what it was but whenever Illya and Sakura got together….bad things started to happen, mostly to him. It rarely came to that though since Shirou didn't really invite people over to the house often but when he did….the Emiya shuddered.

How could a collaboration of eastern and western dishes go so wrong? How?

Even though Sakura never _seemed_ to dislike Illya back, there was definitely something there that made Shirou want to avoid putting the two volatile elements in close proximity.

"Do you want some Onii-chan?"

As Shirou looked at the offered fork with a piece of cake at the end and the focused look on his sister's face. A quick bite later, he began to analysis the cake in depth as Illya grinned. Ingredients were of decent quality and the preparation was good but sadly his tastebuds detected dryness and Shirou decided that he could do better. Still she liked it and that was nice. Maybe he could prepare some Japanese sweets for her later on.

After paying the bill, he went off with Illya on what had turned into a sibling stroll. Illya talked about a friend she met in pre-school named Mimi and their 'adventures', listening to his social butterfly of a little sister fill the air with her stories was soothing…especially when Shirou realized just where it was that he was walking this entire time.

He stopped at an area that didn't seem any different apart from having a more modern look that most areas of Fuyuki. The reason for that was something that Shirou was intimately aware of.

"I met him here."

Illya just froze at the interruption or more specifically the strange expression that her brother now had. Really Shirou normally had an almost peaceful, observing countenance excluding when someone like mama did something crazy.

But now…there was a distant almost longing look and she realized that there was only one person that Shirou could mean. Papa never really told her how she got a big brother, she couldn't even remember a time when she didn't. The idea that someone so important to her family was once just another stranger was offputting to the Einzbern and without thinking she held onto his shirt.

"I can remember every detail about that moment. Everything."

"How I found something so important thanks to him and kaa-san…and you too Illya-chan."

He smiled and ruffled her white pigtails messily before closing his eyes in thought.

He could do it. Barely thinking he started to performed a simple action of magecraft. Doing so was something that the Emiya rarely did outside the safety of the domicile but unlike other acts this could barely be called magecraft. No circuits were necessary for this, no prana. Rather what he was doing could be considered more a prerequisite for a specific type of magecraft more than real thaumaturgy.

Alchemy of the mental persuasion. Something that Sella had thaught despite seeing little value in the arts of Atlas when compared to the physical alchemy of the Einzberns.

It was almost learnt out of desperation to be considered an actual spellcaster, not even a magus. Two of his first skills and along with Structural Grasp the only ones he could perform without repercussions.

_{Thought Acceleration activated}{Memory Partition: First Room Realized}{Memory Analysis- Start.}_

Or at least without_ unexpected_ repercussions.

He held back a grimace as his head started pounding. This was expected.

Really combining the two skills was something that was he was not really ready for but he wanted to finish before Illya notice something wrong. Besides a little bit of a headache was nothing.

_{hard ground}{body dying}{hand raised}{Man. Smiling.}_

Go Back.

_{fire..heat searing}{smog…choking}{Circuits absorbing}{Body Strengthening}_

Go. Back.

_{BLACK} {BLACK} {PAIN} {BLACK}{DI-}_

**GO. BACK.**

_{Copper Hair}{Tall Lady}{Hazel Eyes}{Man. Frowning.}_

_{"Just h_ld _y h_d an_ d_'t l_t g_"}_

_{"Shirou!"} _

"Shirou?"

Orbs of golden steel opened at the interruption. The mental act was discarded and the pressure began to fade though a mild headache remained. He didn't look at her for a moment. But when he did the first thing he noticed was the furrowed brows of worry that his sister had on.

"Are you ok?"

Was he? Should he be? Failure usually didn't bother Shirou but this…this..

"I was trying to remember something."

"About Papa?"

Shirou shook his head minutely and Illya got the feeling not to ask further.

If he wanted to talk about it he would.

He did not.

But as he went home, sister firmly in hand to deliver her to the judgement of Prime Guardian Sella, part of Shirou Emiya wondered when it was or more so what it meant that he could no longer remember the woman from whose grasp he ran.

When he could no longer remember the boy who first walked into the fire.

* * *

**AN: A look back for Shirou and perhaps a look into the future for us. Yep the first major changes has been revealed. What does this mean? What's wrong with Shirou's projection? How will an element of Ether change the boy who lives unaware of the sheathed Sword? The prick writing this story probably knows. I bet he's got it all planned out...or may he's just making it up as he goes along. Either way let's hope the ride will be fun and thanks for over a hundred favs and follows.**


	7. 6-A Side Quest?

**Chapter Six: A Side Quest?**

"Shirou….Explain."

The Emiya quailed under the gaze of his severely unamused Guardian. Sella did not know what to do with the boy. How could someone who was considerate, respectful to his elders and dedicated to his studies be such a-pardon her disrespect- complete lummox?

He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He could do this. Yes it had failed numerous times before but the future was always in flux. Anything was possible!

"Well there I was…minding my own busi-"

"Yes I know 'minding your own business'…The interesting thing is young master, that your business has a habit to involve other people's business. And that business also tends to turn towards violence and ends with you coming home and making _my_ business to patch you up."

Alright plan 1 had crashed and burned not even a sentence after takeoff but Shirou had grown as a person, no longer was he a foolish preteen who thought that nothing could go wrong, no…now he had two plans! He could not fail!

"Alright I may have gotten into another fight."-Sella raised an eyebrow. 'May?' well the boy's scuffed up school clothes, bruised arms and bleeding nose said otherwise, namely that Shirou's lying skills still hadn't reached past a first grade level.

"But it was for a good reason!" Oh this ought to be fun. "They were messing with Sakura! They said that her hair was weird and that she should dye it. The buncha jerks."

"I see so I suppose that you barged in to defend the fair maiden. A lone virtuous knight against the cruel world."

Shirou was torn between wanting to nod along and knowing that he was being cruelly mocked. He had to defend himself from this abuse.

"I wasn't alone. Gaisuke was there and since they were taking about weird hair…." Ah yes Gaisuke, one of that crazy dojo's heirs and one of the worst possible people for Shirou to be friends with. He would likely think that it was common sense for a red head and blond to help out someone due to sharing unusual hair.

Now he was a _nice_ boy but…an energetic knucklehead prone to attracting fights was not the type of person who Sella wanted her ward to hang out with. Of course if she really put her foot down then Shirou might comply…being a good respectful boy.

But…he was also a lonely one.

He didn't show it. Looking sad and lonely wasn't something Shirou did in fact he really wasn't an emotive person in general. Persistent and stubborn, yes but she couldn't judge him just by his appearance like the young lady.

The fact was that Shirou's dedication to his magecraft lessons despite his slow progress, while something she was proud off also meant that he didn't interacted with people after school. She also suspected that during classes was the same as he likely tried to refine his mental skills that did not require the usage of magic circuits. That was of course forbidden outside of home even if he only knew a few minor mysteries.

The result was that the only male friend that Shirou had was a one that was also stubborn if in a different way and who didn't think about dragging Shirou in fights and vice versa. Thankfully that Sakura girl seemed to be normal despite her heritage but at his age Shirou needed something more….

"Shirou while I see your need to protect your friends, it isn't only Sakura that you get involved with. You do not need to get so involved in these matters especially when they always turn into a fight. There are other solutions such as the adults which always have to pick up the pieces afterwards. Although I have to say that I'm glad that you haven't taken the easy way out and used reinforcement."

He gaped at her in shock. Use magecraft on ordinary people?  
"No way Sella I wouldn't put you guys in danger!"

She furrowed her brow at how his first thought was their safety even in a small event like this. She knew that his main goal was to help but did he really not wish to use magecraft for nothing else? He used thought acceleration and memory partition in his school work but that was more to train the skills and grow accustomed to the mental strain than to get straight A's.

She shook her head and wondered how to deal with such an unusual child. Well first…She activated her circuits and actualized a simple mystery to heal the minor marks. Ignoreing the now happy look on Shirou's face as he assume that he had gotten away with his foolishness, Sella thought. Shirou needed to do something that gave him more interaction with people. But how would she do this….

* * *

Shirou Emiya was feeling mildly suspicious. Before him was the school's judo club which he was now going to be a part of. He wondered about what the point of this was when he could instead be studying magecraft. He expected a punishment for his last scuffle but instead Sella just went and patched him up before making him a _deal_.

If he stopped fighting, joined a sports club for a month and most importantly exceled in it, she would let him study an extremely valuable conceptual weapon. He didn't even know that they had a conceptual weapon but Sella wouldn't lie to him.

He had never even seen a magical item before but he knew that a conceptual weapon had very interesting effects. His little study on the church and their executors informed him on the Keys of Providence which they normally utilized in battle to make vampires susceptible to natural laws but conceptual items could have a variety of effects that physical defences could not protect against.

So he would enter this club and be the very best. In return he would get to take another step down the path of magecraft. How hard could it be?

Shirou found the answer to that question on the hard wooden floor that he was flipped onto.

"Gah!..." His eyes reflexively tightened at the impact and his body froze, still the shock of the crash wore off soon and Shirou quickly got up to face his sparring partner.

He had thought that it would be easy to match another person after going through the katas and getting a feel for it but this guy was good despite being the same age as him and even needing glasses.

"What's your name?"

The boy shifted his lens before going back into a stance with ease further implying past training.

"Issei Ryuudou, and you're Shirou Emiya."

"Uhh…yeah how did you know? Wait Ryuudou like the temple?" Did he know this guy? Oh man he hoped that he didn't get in a fight with a monk from here. That would make this a real pain and probably net him some bad karma. Wait was Karma a thing? Probably not but if vampires could come from the moon…he should ask Sella.

"You're rather well known in our grade thanks to that friend of yours…"

'Gakumazawa…'

Was he really getting a reputation? Maybe Sella was right about the fights.

"Are you one of the big guys around here?"

The responding chuckle was answer enough but Issei soon elaborated.

"Not quite, my skills are good but that's just from some sparring with my brother. I'm just trying the club out because he asked but I might not stay."  
"Me either…my guardian wanted me to try out some clubs so I'll be doing that for about a month instead of just going home."

"Hmm..."

Issei stayed silent as he continued the spar with the newcomer. Shirou Emiya was a bit of an enigma in their grade. Despite getting into fights and being friends with a lout like Gakumazawa the boy was well behaved in class and even consistently got grades which rivalled his own.

He tried to grapple but Emiya kept backing off before he could get a decent grip. His footwork was just like a beginner but his instincts were excellent…wait that wasn't quite right. Emiya did evade his moves but it wasn't instinct but judgement his eyes were always on Issei's movements. It was simply reacting to an attack but at an unexpected level for an ordinary person. Maybe he picked up some things from the blonde?

Still it wasn't hard to see where Shirou was focusing on and using that against him. With his unpractised movements, the newbie was simply incapable of moving in a way to defend and when he tried….

"Gahh"

It was funny to see the boy stumble over his own feet but Issei had enough composure to refrain from laugh at a down opponent…out loud.

Shirou noted the smirk however and soon jumped up to wipe it off the wannabe-monk's face.

Sadly that wish was one that would not be granted.

* * *

"Gahaha…man you got your ass kicked."

That elegant response came from the Dojo heir once he saw the Emiya walking gingerly with that stick in the mud/decent fighter Ryuudou.

"Gakumazawa-san." Issei offered a bland greeting. While Emiya seemed to actually be a good sort, his choice in friends was definitely questionable…or may he was just too nice to say anything.

"So you joined the Judo guys? You know that I've still got that spot open for you at my dojo right?"

Shirou just shrugged in response, slightly flinching at his aching back. The ground did not get softer as time went on but he didn't give up until club went out.

"Sorry Gaisuke, Sella said that I had to pick something to do after school and I just choose judo."

Gaisuke remembered the strict lady that just looked at him judgingly when he went to see Shirou's house. He wasn't that experienced with the Gakumazawa style but its core was centred on reading the opponent and one look told him how outclassed he was.

When Shirou mention that she used to be a maid before coming to Japan he forget to mention that she was a maid in the same way that Oddjob was a butler. What's weird was that the lazy one that just waved at him before going back to watching TV felt even more dangerous.

Heh and people wondered why he was friends with Emiya? The guy was a lot more interesting that anyone realized and you could always count on him to have your back without asking.

Which made it a shame that he didn't want to join their dojo. Sure his bro was an awesome sparring partner but variety was the spice of life and all that. Mmnn….He never fought Shirou because picking on the untrained wasn't their family's way but if he started doing judo….

"Hey Shirou that's cool and if you're gonna pick Judo, well that means I get a new sparring partner. The established art versus the commoner's reversal!"

He punctuated that statement with a sudden fist in the air that shocked the two.

"Huh?" Shirou just realized that he had not only gotten a sorta monk as a friend but also a new? rival had appeared?

Ah he had to bear with it and it's only for a month right?

* * *

**A/N: more stuff! I'm basing Gaisuke's character off of his dad and sister's behavior plus his one panel appearance in Prisma. He will pretty much be a back ground character even more so than his sis but a way to get Shirou interested in the more physical stuff. Canon is pretty short and the manga updates so slowly which means that I'll be taking my time with developing Shirou...**


	8. 7-Raising the Bar

**Chapter Seven: Raising the Bar**

"Something's off."

Gaisuke looked at his friend/sparring partner/ 'rival' with some concern. The reason for this was because even someone like him, who was frankly oblivious, could realize that something was wrong. Now what was the cause of this unorthodox concern? Well…

Shirou Emiya was discontent.

It was not overt; he did not grumble, complain and even in conversation his response held no underlying displeasure. But the truth was clear to anyone who knew him, Shirou was not a happy camper. It was in the slight slump in his walk and the small distant frown that kept popping up. The reason was unknown but it didn't matter because as an appointed bro, the path was already determined. And so once they were let out of class, the self-appointed eternal rival made his move.

"Grit those teeth Emiya!"

"Huh?"  
Shirou was just able to avoid the first swing with a hasty backstep in his confused defence but the heir of Gakumazawa would not be denied!

"Clarity Liner!"

With a sudden deft strike to his chin as he was backing away, Shirou was sent crashing to the ground. This of course drew a certain amount of attention. The class began to attract towards as exclamation of surprise filled the courtyard, while Gaisuke was known for his involvement in fights doing so on school grounds was something outside the norm.

"Gakumazawa-san! What nonsense are you up to this time!"

A figure passed through the throng of gathered people and once he was recognized the people began to disperse. After all this was the only person in their grade willing to take charge when Gaisuke went into his random fits of insanity. Appointed as 'Chief Stick in the Mud' by the aforementioned troublemaker, the interloper was clearly Issei Ryuudou.

"Oh…sup Monk."

This nonchalant answer and ridiculous nickname were things that had once angered Issei but soon adapted to. After all a 'man' of the Ryuudou Temple could hardly be bothered by the antics of a foolish brute.

"Why are you attack Emiya-san? I thought you at least had enough sense to restrain your violence to the dojo spars."

Normally violence would be reported immediately but as painful was it was to admit, the lout would not do something like that for a no reason especially to a friend. His dojo's odd sense of pride wouldn't allow that kind of behaviour…probably.

"He looked like he needed a punch to the face but he dodged for some reason so I had to use my family's secret techniques. Really he should be thanking me."

With a herculean effort, Ryuudou held back the longing desire to have his hand tearfully unite with his face. The earnest urge to facepalm at utter nonsense was just part of knowing Gaisuke but not once had Issei submitted to the temptation. No he had to be a bastion of sanity against this black hole of inane antics. The correct choice would be….

"Emiya how do you wish to repay Gamakumaza's actions?"

Shirou had already gotten back up from the sudden blow. While disconcerting, Gaisuke's strike held so real amount of force, despite appearances he was good enough to use just enough power to topple Shirou over.

"Gahh…it's fine."

Rubbing his chin, Shirou decided to get some answers in a rather direct fashion.

"Gaisuke…what the hell?"

"Your dead eyes were annoying so I went and knocked some life into them."

'Dead?'

He was feeling a bit down but…

"What do you mean dead?"

Gaisuke crossed his arms and tilted his head up towards the sky. He rarely got to show off his knowledge due to it being consigned mainly to fighting stuff and hitting things. But know all would know his power.

"The Gamakumaza style is designed to crush the enemy's body and spirit without mercy! When the powerful and cocky come, we strike and make them regret they were ever born!"

…Shirou and Issei shared a glance and began walking back to the school building. After all class would be starting soon and they couldn't be late. Education was much more important than useless jabber from an idiot.

"Wait! I'm saying that you look like you lost badly!"

The Emiya froze and spun around with an indignant look on his face.

"I didn't lose!...just haven't figured out how to win yet."

Gaisuke and Issei stilled for a second before they each started giving him a look, a sad look, a sad look that made Shirou start feeling particularly annoyed especially when they started shaking it oh so disappointedly.

"Emiya…it is understandable to be depressed over a loss but it is best to accept it and move on."

Shirou let out a huff of resistance but soon calmed himself, they were right about him not accepting something but the reason wasn't losing. He gave the contrasting duo a contemplative look, it was probably useless but could they maybe answer his question?

"I'm not sad about losing but…have you guys ever fought someone that you just _couldn't_ beat, someone that was just stronger than you at something even if you gave it your all. And what more you feel that this person was always going to be that way."

Issei didn't answer immediately feeling that this was an important question. Someone that he felt that he could never exceed? His brother was much more skilled at martial arts but unlike him, Issei had broader focuses and tried to find a balance in academics and physical activities. He could quite figure out a way to phrase what he need to saw. Still it was times like this that a clear minded idiot came in handy.

"Every day."

Eyebrows rose at not just the words but the serious expression that Gaisuke wore.

"My bro is the eldest and I constantly try to match him. Never won once, Reiichi's always ahead…but that's not such a bad thing. I can see the steps he made and learn from his strengths and weaknesses, hell sometimes I help him patch those weaknesses up. No point in beating someone when they're not at their absolute best."

"Yes Emiya, there will always be people who excel at a certain field. Your skills at academics are a clear example. But there is always a reason for excellence, sometimes it's talent or hard work or just a greater amount of time practised. If you find your reason and study other's, you can grow stronger. Even if a challenge is impossible…is that any reason to give up?"

"Man if you always worry about never beating something then your enemy is always gonna be yourself not the world. Do something stupid and see how awesome it feels when you win."

Shirou was clearly surprised; he wasn't expecting such fitting advice from people his own age. Well maybe Ryuudou picked up some stuff from the temple but Gaisuke? He knew that the World had unexpected depths but apparently so did the people he knew.

"Look like your eyes finally got some life in them! Hey we got gym before school lets out so why don't I show you someone else that you can never surpass."

Shirou gave a small smile as Gaisuke ran back into the building, Issei trailing afterwards.

They were right, people he wanted to protect had their own strengths…strengths that far exceed his own as a person. But he could still polish his own meagre strengths and try to make up for their weaknesses. Sella wasn't good at physical things and Liz couldn't use magecraft. He still hadn't given it enough. He could still do more. He didn't know enough to decide anything. All that changed was that he now could see how high the sky was.

It was after class that Shirou decided to take Gaisuke's advice. The gym equipment needed to be put away and people had already starting begging off and left Shirou to take care of the rest. The stuff left by his grade was only a little but he soon saw that that someone, probably from the higher classes, had left out a jumping pole and landing pad. It was set up way too high, he could see how any middle-schooler could be expected to clear it. He would need to use reinforcement or something to do so but there was no way he would do something so stupid.

Still…

They left it out here to the side of the courtyard. the few people still playing around weren't interested in it. The bar was set way too high, too high for a middle-schooler. It was impossible. _But was that any reason not to try?_ It would be stupid. _But would it be awesome if he won?_

The Emiya looked around almost questioning, looking for some sign to decide his path.

But such convenient things are rare even for ones that lived in the moonlit world.

Screw it.

He glanced down at his gym clothes, pulling the lightly sweated t-shirt and toeing the ground with his sneakers.

No magic circuits. No mental alchemy. No tricks. Just a simple kid doing something pointless.

He took a few steps back and looked at the bar. Then he ran. Then he leaped.

It was a good effort but a poor result. He failed. The bar was just too high.

For a moment he flew but the wings made from his effort were as expected insufficient to the task.

But still he smiled.

Once more.

Again and again he made the effort. His sportswear was soaked in sweat and in the light of the setting sun his body ached.

Once more.

He focused on nothing but the bar and the desired result that resided in his mind.

His sneakers kicked up dirt in the air and he pushed his body without care of possibilities.

Once more.

He saw anything but the bar and his desired result so it was not unusual or strange that he did not notice.

He didn't see that there were three people watching.

Three people with much better things to do but who all stayed to watch the meaningless struggle.

They saw the pointlessness of his effort. The foolishness of his task. How clumsy his tired body had become in the heat of the sun.

They saw the persistence that he held. The steel of his will. How his tired body would not give in to simple exhaustion.

They saw that mundane if difficult act and the idiot that continued to leap in the sky for no reason at all. They wondered how it would feel to try something impossible, without expecting a prize, reward or even simple recognition. To do something for the sake of it without expectations and meaning weighing them down.

To go against common sense. To defy not for material gain but just because one could.

They weren't sure why they watched. The raven haired average one need to go home after a long day of school. The mercenary in training with golden drills had no time to waste in her short trip to this eastern country. The purple headed friend who wondered if she should interrupt or reveal herself, but knowing that to do so would disrupt that constant effort.

The sight gave them all a strange but pleasant feeling that none wished to go away and so as one they all stayed in the background to watch. To embrace that feeling and see the copper-haired boy try to complete his self-appointed task.

But Shirou Emiya did not notice them. All he saw was the bar and so he went. He had seen his guardians' strength, realized the heights that he still had yet to touch. His magecraft was insufficient to push him there, his body was too mundane to touch it, his skills too untrained. But still he would make the leap.

Once. More.

With all the ability that his body could gather and refine. He had failed or rather seen just how far above the ones he needed to protect were and started to think that his efforts…were wrong, mistaken or even worse useless. He looked away from his mistakes but even if it were just for a moment that was never the right path.

So once more until he finally reach it. Until the deed was done.

Shirou hoped that Sella wouldn't be mad if it took a while.


	9. Interlude One-The Other Emiya

**Interlude One: The Other Emiya**

"No. Way."

In an ordinary Fuyuki household, that was Shirou's definite response to the only other male to ever reside there. He had been preparing what to do for summer vacation; magecraft lessons, more intense spars, visit Issei's temple but what he just heard cut those plans to fine shreds. It was unbelievable in the extreme and so Shirou felt quite confident with his denial.

"Yes…way."

So shocked was he that Shirou did not notice the tone that the old man used. He also didn't notice the cries from Illya in the living room when she heard that Shirou would be going with Kerry while Irisviel stayed at home for a few weeks. Kiritsugu did however and for a moment realized that this would be the first time that he and his son would go on a trip together and yet it felt completely natural.

Well he was definitely a changed man and it didn't even take something ridiculous like a curse from a final boss type character to do it.

Any of his former associates would have experienced complete shock at the sight of the relaxed, slightly amused and most of all peaceful look on his face as he ruffled his son's copper hair. They would have definitely gone into collective apoplexy if they had seen him arrive and immediately put Illya on his shoulders to carry her around.

The man didn't even smoke anymore after Iri picked up some health magazines and decided that he was too old to try and look cool with a cigarette in his mouth. He tried to fight it but foolishly relied on logic and how as an alchemist she could probably fix any damage to his lungs with ease. Iri quite simply did not agree and started to tearfully mourn how he only loved her for her amazingly powerful magecraft.

The ending came with a rather predictable result with Kiritsugu going to his room while she threw away his cartons and lighter. Thankfully she had no fashion opinions on the black trench coats filling his closet or else he would have done even more sulk-manly brooding.

He even changed to the point where he realized how hard his son was working with magecraft and for a truly admirable purpose; protecting their family. That change was the reason why he decided to do something that was normally a tradition for magi.

His normal methodology with magus traditions was to see how he could take advantage of its flaws and use it to terminate his Target.

As the Target was his son, 'terminate' was altered to 'reward' and since the tradition was something not only meaningful but also fairly practical the magus killer saw no reason not to.

"Seriously!?"

Kiritsugu gave a good natured sigh. Was it so hard to imagine that he would do something like this? Then he thought about the collection of mercenaries, heretic magi and dead apostles (most all coincidentally dead…extra dead in the apostles' case) that would maybe say 'umm…yes'.

Ok so maybe Iri implied that Shirou should get something as encouragement for his efforts. And maybe she had shoved a case of cash and told him to use those mercenary contacts for something useful.

"Yes, You mother and I have been talking about your progress. I know you've been working hard with your…studies and you should find an Azoth Sword useful."

That was no exaggeration. Not only had Shirou been practicing magecraft and even started developing his own spells, he had also started going to a rather strange local dojo and even tried out some judo at school to train his body. That granddaughter of Raiga even took a shine to him and invited to try out some kendo but like the others sports he never seemed drawn to it despite putting his all into training.

Still the result from Sella's reports was someone who would spar evenly with the Dojo's heirs and Kiritsugu could even see his son start to develop a unconscious stance similarly to martial artists he had known.

Practitioners like the man they would be going to pick up some more crafting materials from once Shirou stopped bouncing around in excitement.

Well he could wait for a while after all…Kiritsugu Emiya was a family man now.

* * *

"Do you have everything ready?"

A small smile came to his face at Iri's joyful expression as he nodded in affirmation. She had been pushing for something like this for a while, saying that males needed to go on bonding adventures and talk about manly things. Initially she had been adamant on a fishing trip where apparently nothing would be caught but instead realized the similarities that they shared and how despite being from different generations they really weren't so far apart after all. Then they were supposed to hug but in a totally manly way.

It turns out that teaching Iri about the outside world through a mix of Disney movies, sitcoms and romantic comedies was a bad idea.

Still he could say that the choices he made to get here, even if meant abandoning his plans and preparations, was not one he could regret. It was after all one that he was still fighting for with his wife at his side and children safe at home.

"Here you can use these in the crafting."

He caught the small thrown bag by reflex and quickly realized what it contained.

"Really? now?"

She gave a small shrug.

"Just as some insurance. He's still too young to know something like that...I don't think anyone is really old enough but that doesn't mean he can't benefit from it. It'll cost a bit more to make a multifunctional mystic code but it should be useful in the future."

She was likely correct. The result would likely be less specialized than his own but the materials would be definitely useful for crafting and shouldn't interfere with the original functions. In fact it might even enhance it but still…

"You know in my day it wasn't so easy to make one of those, I had to take out my own ribs and grind them into dust. Took a lot of work but I never wasted the results."

"Yes honey, I've heard it before. You were very tough and didn't cry even once."

Kiritsugu enjoyed the back and forth but it was time for him to leave and hopefully get something that his son could be proud of. Something that could represent Shirou Emiya as a magus.

* * *

"So Shirou I heard that Sella let you study a genuine conceptual weapon."

Kirisugu had to hold back a chuckle as Shirou started glaring in annoyance out the window of the SUV.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Yep Shirou was definitely upset but why? It was after all a magic item without compare that any magi would give their legacy to study. He told his son as much, though the amused tone may have a bit obvious.

"I spent a month without studying magecraft. A month focusing on clubs and studies that I now have to keep up or else the teachers will start to complain. I did it for something that I was promised to get and do you know what Sella told me at the end of it all?"

_'Shirou you've done so well, excelling in both school and activities. Friendship, experience, skills…You've gained so much but the real prize was inside you all along._'

The car was silent as Shirou pout-brooded like a man and Kiritsugu remembered when Sella had called to ask for permission to use the 'prize' as motivation. Iri's only request was to record the look on Shirou's face at the end of it all.

"Well….it was."

And now Shirou was glaring at him with teenage rebellion in those eyes. Oh where did his loyal, polite son go? Ah well at least he had Illya.

"Not the point…and it wasn't funny."

Sella would disagree, heck Liz would disagree.

"Well did you find out anything from it?"

Kiritsugu was never really a researcher, though more from preference than aptitude, but even he has some professional interest in what spells a person could get from studying a noble phantasm.

"…not really I mean how am I supposed to understand something made by the Fae? Just analysing it gives me a headache since the materials, concept and crafting skills are all basically alien to Humans. If it wasn't made to be used by one, I doubt I would be able to get anything at all."

_Used by one._

"You mean Arthur Pendragon."

Kiritsugu spoke the name without questioning but there was a hint of curiosity about the legendary King of Knights.

"Yeah _her_."

Kiritsugu would never admit to being caught off guard by a teenager but that didn't stop the persistent smirk on Shirou's face at his father's reaction. The Emiya scion would get his revenge against those who mocked him one way or the other.

"I was able to get some pieces of the history from it since that's not dependant on the item, it's more like the impressions left on it by the World. It's hard to process the images but the clearest were of King Arthur who was definitely a girl and never seemed to get old like you."

He ignored that kick at his age as he thought about the damage that Shirou would be able to do to centuries of well-persevered and beloved Arthurian legends. Well Avalon was said to grant immortality so likely the King never aged though what kind of immortality the Fae could grant was a Mystery. Still even if nothing else could be learnt, he was impressed that Shirou's grasp was able to get even that much about events from over a millennium and a half ago.

That spell was something that he had polished until a basic piece of magecraft became something rather unique. Which reminded him….

"So Shirou, Sella mentioned that you were trying to make your own spells now?"

"Yeah!...Well right now I'm just working on two of them to figure out how to use my ether element and one isn't even really a new one. I still can't do most spells that create physical changes in the World except for things like reinforcement and alteration. It still has limits but it works best on my body and if I use structural grasp to analysis my body beforehand I can even do it to parts like my eyes."

For the second time in a day, a teenager got the upper hand on the Magus Killer. Parenthood was quickly turning out to be the mercenary's wiliest foe.

"Why would you do something like that? Reinforcement is tricky enough on the body's muscles, using it on the organs is…"

Insane, stupid and a variety of other things that Sella had already told Shirou.

"I know but if I use mental alchemy then I can monitor the results without going over the reinforcement limit. I'm still working on it with Sella's help but even if it might be helpful, that's not one of the spells I'm developing. The one I figured out myself was by combining my ether element with structural grasp to better see the flow of prana and spiritual influences. That's what let me obtain the images from Avalon and I even managed to see that it worked by absorbing small amount of stray prana from King Arthur. It won't work now because it's set to activate only with King Arthur's energy, I don't think even the Fae could use it without her."

If the item wouldn't react to any prana or presence but Arthur's, then even the Clocktower's researchers would have limited success with it. Especially since they couldn't physically interfere with its workings and risk the Faire craft being damaged.

"Hmmm…and what was the second spell?"

That_ Spiritual_ Grasp was interesting and would likely be suited to studying spiritual bodies and other influences of Gaia from what Kiritsugu could surmised by his own understanding of elemental relations. Still to develop something like that showed that even hampered by the ether element, Shirou was a resourceful child.

"Well this's not really mine but when I started studying Avalon, I _grasped_ that it had a basic function that only King Arthur and the faire creators could use but which didn't require prana to activate. It only reduces the presence of the Item on Gaia by shifting its Existence to a purely spiritual state. Sella said that it's called 'astralization' and that it's an effect that only works with things with a strong spiritual presence or component."

That was something he also knew from what beginners knowledge he had on ghosts, wraiths and other spiritual bodies of Gaia. While transferring from the material plane to the astral one was a natural process for those beings, he didn't think any magi families specialized in doing it to physical items. Likely because it would be a very limited art without much room for improvement and discovery. But from what he knew about the highest forms of magical existences, such a mystery was innate to their nature.

"So you think that you can…learn how to astralize things from Avalon? Because Ether forms the basis of spiritual phenomena?"

It would require a large amount of information on the desired item and an ether element to integrate the mystery all while not interfering with the item's intended function. With some more knowledge on spiritual bodies, he could see a person being able to construct an astralization enchantment and seeing how engaged Shirou was made Kiritsugu hold back his thoughts on the spell's possible applications and instead tried to see how he could help.

"The Azoth Sword will likely take a while so maybe while we're there you can get some Code Crafting lessons and learn how to apply that kind of spell to physical items."

Shirou's mind soon began to whirl with what he could learn from someone who specifically focused in crafting before when something struck him about what was said.

"What do you mean? I thought that we were just picking up some material to make it?"

Kiritsugu blinked as his mind realized that he didn't make things clear. Well making arrangement not just with the supplier but also the defacto-Second Owner of the city took a while. It had been years since he had seen either of them, back when he was moving here with Irisviel and an infant Illya. Apparently informing Shirou had slipped his mind. Maybe he was getting old…

"Ah…well making a good mystic code requires a bit of professional advice and I know a craftsman that lives in the same town as the man I ordered the metal from. He'll have the required tool for crafting there."

Normally magi families would forge Azoth Swords by themselves since the tool would be based on their family's specialization but Shirou had no interest in taking the Emiya crest and going into the field of time manipulation which was probably for the best as he lacked the fire element which had run in the Emiya line. As a result, he would get an azoth sword more suited to his ether element and spiritual phenomena.

"That's…convenient?"

Shirou didn't know much about the Japanese moonlit society but most magi families tend to give each other a berth unless their families had a strong connection.

"Well the place we're going to happens to be on a ley line, one even stronger than the one in Fuyuki so some of people from our side tend to congregate or pass through there. Not really magi but definitely out of the norm in one way or the other."

Shirou nodded stiffly as his mind began to realize that this trip was not only so that he could get his first code but also to introduce him to people from the same world that his parents had been traversing every time they left the safety of home.

"What's the place like again?

Kiritsugu thought about the land that was known for the birth of the Fifth Magician, where people with tainted blood now possessed the highest control and things always felt a bit more_ primal_ than normal.

"Well because of the strong ley line the Association normally keeps an eye on here, but the official Second Guardian is absent now. There's still an overseer watching but he shouldn't be a problem. The town was built around the mountains with a connection to the city and from what I remember; the town is more modernized than Fuyuki so finding a hotel will be easy."

Yep there shouldn't be any problems in sleepy Misaki….

* * *

**AN: I'm not completely happy with this since Kiritsugu's voice is hard to find and mixing humour into it is even harder. In Zero he is very mission focused but with Illya he's shown to be playful and in FSN he's almost zen. But his presence in Prisma is just one appearance where he's just chilling and taking a smoke, something I've deprived my Kiritsugu of, as punishment for being so vague in canon. Also we're in Misaki but don't go expecting an arc, or even an Arc. This is just a first attempt to see if I can write a wider prisma universe and maybe a bit of setup for a return down the road. Also remember that the theme of HKPS is family.**

**On another note. I'm calling for any interested people to apply for a beta position. Not so much for general plotting but to help me keep the characters' voices inline.**


	10. 8-Vacation by Moonlight I

**Chapter Eight: Vacation by Moonlight (Part One)**

Shirou could hardly help the instinctive shock as he and his father entered Misaki in their SVU. He had spent his entire life in Fuyuki, an area linked to one of the strongest leylines in Japan and yet the difference between the two lands was obvious. It wasn't just as something clearcut as the potency of mana, the natural energy of Gaia, though that was a clear level above Fuyuki's. With every inhalation through his nose, his own innate way of sensing energy through smell was almost overcome by the…extra spice that the land held.

"What do you think Shirou."

In Eastern thaumaturgy, leylines were called 'dragon pulses' and Shirou had never felt the term more accurate than now. Though if Fuyuki was a Phantasmal level dragon then Misaki was without a doubt Divine. No wonder the magic association kept an eye on this place even from a half a world away.

"Wow….this place is so…weird. But in a good way?"

Kirisugu gave a light chuckle at that, before he felt his son begin to emit some minor amount of prana. He refrained from commenting on it as he had to let the boy decide when to use magecraft on his own. Besides unlike Fuyuki, this wasn't somewhere they would be living so some leeway could be allowed.

As they drove towards their first stop, he noticed Shirou looking outside the car window with some focused curiosity. Considering what spells Shirou knew and the minor pressure it was most likely his 'spiritual grasp' which made him wonder just _what_ his son was seeing.

Well 'Wha? Huh' would be an accurate summary of Shirou's thoughts at that point. He expected to see something strange by witnessing Misaki's spiritual influences but this was insane. Looking at the roiling sea of Gaia's strength, so close and primal, made him almost expect it to reach out and touch him. Even stranger was the feeling that he had that what he was seeing was not even the leyline at full strength.

And if that wasn't enough, he soon realized that his random thought was a lot closer to the truth than he could have ever expected. It wasn't just something that he saw in the ground or atmosphere but also in the everyday people on the streets. The people who had lived for years in this land, had been born exposed to this kind of raw energy.

It wasn't something ridiculous like they were all magi in hiding or even had the talent but there was a deliberate _twist_ to the energy around some of them that was absent in the people in Fuyuki. It was strange and quite it was different from the polished feeling that his parents and Sella had or even like martial artists like Issei's brother had possessed.

He took his eyes away from a brown haired girl whose energy was especially twisted and contained like a shaken soda to think about what he was seeing. It was not unheard for people outside the moonlit world to possess some special traits like magic circuits or even esp abilities dormant in them. These things can pop up without any outside interference whatsoever but a push could definitely help and the strength…the virility of Misaki's pulse was one heck of a push.

Even he could feel the influence just by using magecraft in the pulse's range. His focus with his personal ether influenced grasp was notable increasing as he picked out more and more details from the volatile energy surrounding him.

Their stay would only be for a couple of weeks but Shirou already had a good feeling that he would learn a lot here.

* * *

When Shirou heard that they would be stopping to pick up crafting supplies he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Maybe he had been watching a bit too many crime movies but the idea of his father conducting a deal in a shadowy warehouse or perhaps in one of Misaki's many dark alleyways had gotten in to his head. He would of course have to prove his rep by casually taking down some uppity kid who doesn't know who he's talking to.

Of course part of Shirou knew that such thoughts were coming from what he liked to call the Iri part of his brain but a child could dream.

But not even in his dreams did he think they would go to a place like this. From one perspective it made sense, the old fashioned furnishings and general atmosphere certainly did give the place a 'mystic' type feeling. But that was from a Japanese point of view and Shirou didn't get any sense of active prana or even a general boundary field around the area. Stepping aside to let a man with an aura to some of the Fugimura-sensei's 'friends' pass, he entered the clinic.

The Jinan Clinic seemed to be just what it looked like, a place for people to pick up herbal medicine and for the old to get treatments like acupuncture done. His impression changed when he meet the aged owner with a rather impressive mustache.

Not because of the mustache…well not just that but the man walked in a smooth gait that was already reflex. It strongly reminded him of the way Fujimura-sensei and Ryuudou-san moved in spars but on a purely higher level. He didn't recognize the style but that was probably because the number of martial artists he knew could be counted on one hand.

He factually knew that it wasn't just magi that walked in the moonlit world so it shouldn't be surprising that a person without the ability to use prana or even the church's secret techniques could live there. Still sometimes Shirou wondered just how or maybe why people like that could live in that kind of world. Well he supposed as golden eyes studied at the various herbs on display in the store, that even if you couldn't defend physically, knowledge could be its own kind of weapon.

"Heh the first time you come see me in what was it…six or seven years? And it's to be your glorified postbox."

Kiritsugu took the proffered hand and shook the retired demon-expert, silently remembering his stay in Misaki and the little good he was able to help realize. It wasn't on the same level as his old jobs or how he was able to save his son but it was still a good memory.

"It's good to see you again Sougen too. Irisviel sends her regards and is sorry she couldn't make it."

The now named Elder gave a cajoling smile at that.

"Ah Little Miss Iri, how did a dour guy like you ever trick a flower like that into putting up with you? Plus don't you have that maid with you as well? Honestly I know your type likes to keep that stuff secret but can't you share that kind of mystery around?"

Shirou tilted his head at the conversation and its implications. So apparently both his parent had come here along with Sella or Liz…eh probably Sella. But it had been years since they had last put on those maid uniforms though Sella didn't let go without a fight.

Shirou was now experiencing the strange sensation when one comes to the idea that their parent may once have had a life and goals outsides their children. To shake off the feeling of disconcertion he began to look around the various medicinal plants that were on display. If he had studied herbalism then perhaps he would know just Jingan-san would make with them but Sella had not covered such fields yet.

Still…

Maybe he should pick some stuff while he was here to take back home. While Sella was basically an encyclopaedia of general magecraft and especially specialized in Alchemy, it wasn't like she had any supplies to work with leaving her with just what she accomplish with prana. That was admittedly still quite a lot but magi needed their tools to effectively perform their mysteries.

Sella had taken the job of educating him without complaints, in fact she probably enjoyed it since she was made to educate, but Shirou had to do something to repay her. But he didn't really have the money to just buy random ingredients and hope that Sella would find them useful.

He was still thinking over what to do as Kiritsugu called him back, now carrying a case that probably held the materials for the Azoth Sword. Shirou considered what he knew about that type of mystic code as he grasped the container.

While that mystic code was a relatively simple one that did not require a special forging process or even specific material as long as it could conduct prana properly, Shirou was curious as to what his father decided to make it from. He had never seen spiritually influenced steel and was captivated by the way that it held a comforting aura unlike other prana inert materials, it actually reminded him of how an ether clump would look when his prana was run through it.

The closest thing he had ever seen to that type would be Liz's halberd and that was only for a few moments before Sella came into and berated the two for waving weaponry inside the house. It wasn't like they even damaged anything important but Shirou still went and bought Sella a piece of cake from Verde to make up for it.

Shirou was getting ready to leave before Sougen looked at him with analytic eyes.

"What do you practice boy?"

He looked at the man's trained gaze then to his father and back again.

"Uh…I'm in the judo club and I do some kendo too."

Sougen tilted his head almost quizzically as he looked at the boy…no at his feet. Shirou restrained from shuffling awkwardly.

"Judo…yes in Fuyuki, I remember there was an interesting variant there. Taught by a dragon wasn't it? But that's not it, no this style is…hah! Yes those buffoons, I forgot about them…"

Well at least Shirou knew which buffoons he was talking about. Oh how had their legend reached even this far?

"Ahh ha…yeah I go to their dojo a bit but they're not that bad…"

Sougen just kept chuckling as he remembered the trip he took to Fuyuki back when he was young and full of vitriol…ah good times. He wondered if that Raiga fellow was still angry about the little scuffles they got into or if the Liger let it go after he took out that rival yakuza group.

"Bad? No they're actually fairly skilled but that style isn't a good match against bajiquan at all."

A style built around reacting to your opponents against one that takes the shortest route without showing initial movement? There was little that the Gakumazawa could do once someone took that countering ability away from them. Hah those would strike first strike last! Even those proud maniacs could not overcome that rule.

"Baji…quan? That's like Chinese martial arts right? Can you show me?"

Shirou's eyes sharpened as he thought about seeing another martial arts style but felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning away from the martial artist he looked questioningly to his father.

"Sorry Shirou but we need to go. I want to see Daidara before his place closes down for the day and get started."

Accepting that with only a slight bit of evident disappointment, Shirou headed back to the car also taking the case with him. Looking at his son slightly grunting at the weight, Kiritsugu started to say goodbye when he noted the look on Sougen's face.

"What is it?"

The elder just chuckled knowingly and he responded with a slight shift in his stance. Not quite that of the man he once was, but still separate from the one he portrayed to his children.

"What."

Sougen did not give any indication of realizing anything different but inwardly decided to stop poking the magus-killing bear, he was way too old to deal with that kind of nonsense.

"Nothing serious but you know that you're too late right? He probably already knows that you're here."

The time magus let out a sigh of disappointment. Even if he got to the metalworker in time, that man had a strong grasp of the area. Yes, he would likely keep an eye on all the people who lived between the worlds.

"I figured…still that kid was so obvious that I hoped it wasn't going to be an issue. His standards are starting to slip a bit."

That martial artist stretched his aged yet still toned body as he consider how long it would take for the report to make it way through and for the response to come.

"Nah the boy was just a fresh one, they get sent here for busywork and to give me a few extra hands. Seeing you was the highlight of his time here I'm sure."

Kiritsugu was really hoping to get at least finish meeting Daidara before getting caught up in unnecessary events.

Really he should have just accepted the situation but Emiyas were a stubborn breed. Not a minute later the duo was barrelling out of the clinic with Sougen waving languidly behind them. It looked like the mercenary had picked up some driving skills from that winter rose. Hopefully the copper hair could cope and those yells were just another mysterious illusion born of the moonlit world.

Heading back inside to prepare some tea, Sougen consider that it was nice to see the magus again and still on a good path. It was always good to see a person succeed in building a life even if their hands could not be considered clean. He didn't bother asking why the man would adopt a child against the customs of his position as both a magus and a mercenary, to learn every story would be bothersome. Still the son was a bit interesting to start learning a style that those bears were always so picky about teaching so perhaps he could give some advice.

Heh considering that the boy didn't seem to attached to any art wouldn't it be just amusing if the boy was to use his style over theirs? Heh the yellow bears might once again face the panda's terrible might! Ah but all that was for another day.

For now Sougen Jinan raised a cup and wished them good luck on their endeavors for those two Emiyas would have to deal with Misaki's guarding Oni.

* * *

**A/N: Ah yes part one of Shirou little Misaki visit. I've been a bit preoccupied with finally seeing all the scenes from FHA with Rider's being my definite favourite. Also I'm a bit sad that prisma's Gil is not as nice as the real Ko-Gil but then he would just enuma elish everything and we wouldn't have a story. We will probably wrap this visit up in a chapter or two and I hope you guys will enjoy it.**


	11. 9-Vacation By Moonlight II

**Chapter Nine: Vacation by Moonlight (Part Two)**

In front of a store with darkened windows was an old man with a rather magnificent orange sideburn/moustache combination and lit cigarette in hand. He looked up at the darkening sky and blew a small cloud of smoke before taking another drag. It had been a bit slow and he was just bidding time until time came to close up the metalworks.

Then he heard the screech of tires and got the feeling that his day wasn't done quite yet. He threw the stub on the ground and crushed it with his sandals as the car quickly came into view.

Too quickly.

Way too quickly.

The old man jumped back with surprisingly spryness as the SVU spun into the lot and landed neatly into the only parking space in front of the store with hardly a squeak. Daidara took out another cigarette, feeling that he would probably need it. Only one type of person would come to him like that and his…family's instincts confirmed his feelings. He tensed himself as the car door open as someone came out.

"Hi Fumi ~~Yo I Mu Na Ya ~~ Kotomo Chi Lo Lane

Shi Ki Lu ~~~Yu I Tsu Wanu ~~~ So Wo Ta Ha Kumeka

Wu O E ~~~ Nisali Hete ~~~ Nomasu A Se Ye Holeke"

Standing there nonplussed as the redhead kid with shaky legs chanted some kind of healing prayer, he wondered why he ever decided to leave nice little Inaba for the city.

Oh yeah money. Turns out that the amount of people in need of deadly weapons was a bit limited and fireworks could only supplement his income for so long.

Which meant he had to deal with unsavoury individuals…well hopefully he could get some inspiration for his work, even if magi were notoriously stingy with their secrets.

Still, if the man in black who followed the little redhead was a 'normal' magi he'd swallow his cigarette.

"Don't exaggerate Shirou, it wasn't that bad."

Kiritsugu was met by two rather disbelieving stares but easily shrugged it off the silent criticism. So maybe he had picked up some bad habits from Iri but no one said that a happy marriage was good for everyone.

The time magus ruffled his son's hair a bit before offering a hand to the blacksmith in greeting.

"Kiritsugu Emiya. I'm here to make a commission."

"Hah…And I'm Daidara but you already knew that huh?"

Despite sounding a bit annoyed, the hand was accepted and Kiritsugu noted that despite the man's thin build and age, his grip was strong and he could see the cord like muscles. Well that could be expected from a smith and he didn't seem to be a combatant despite his lineage.

Shirou finally finished stilling his rubbery legs and followed the two adults as they headed into the darkened shop. Entering through the store he didn't know what to expect, a bounded field maybe? But what he saw was much more mundane and yet no less intriguing. It was like stepping back in time, there were worn stone floors that he could feel a chill come from even though his sneakers and a burning hearth that filled the air with a scent of _iron_. But it wasn't that which caught his eyes and caused him to shut out what his father and the smith were saying.

Knifes, Spears, Armour, Helmets, War-fans and of course Swords. Melee armaments all crafted by a single man's hands and made with fine [Steel]. He moved to where these weapons were place on racks with their siblings and just stood there studying them and the gleam of their edges.

He didn't need to take them out of the racks just observing them with his dual grasps was enough for Shirou to get an clear view of the weapons and their quality. Fitting with the shop's medieval appearance, the weapons were all made without obstructing excess. Yes they were made to be used. Yet he could still get the feeling that their innate purpose did not distract from the artistry that they were forged with.

This was a good place….

"Shirou."

He turned back and walking away from the collection of blades to his father who had a strange look in his eyes. A cough drew his attention to Mister Daidara who was putting out his cigarette. For his benefit?

"So kid…your dad tells me you want an Azoth Sword but if I'm going to make it something suitable, I'm gonna need to know a bit about your style."

The smith was bit thrown off when he heard that the kid didn't practice his family style but did his own thing, it sounded more than a bit familiar. The problem was that it was going to be a lot more difficult to tailor a weapon to someone who was still figuring out what they were doing. He could just knock off something generic but even if he was just a branch member, family not to mention professional pride was still a thing.

"I'm not actually that good with natural interference magic just some reinforcement and alteration but I have an ether element."

Ether. Well that was a start, depending on what he fell into; the void element could be pretty interesting to work with. It was damn useful in making conceptual weapons but that would be too complex for the kid. Spiritual interference? How was he supposed to take the formless element and make something real?

"Show me something, not reinforcement or anything that basic. Something interesting I can use."

Interesting? Shirou's mind stalled a bit as he mulled over the word. What could he do? He thought about looking to his father for advice but refrained. He should figure this out himself; it was his first code so he had to contribute.

Should he use alteration? Manipulating the concept of something like [Shape] was basic but he had moved past that to instead affect the [Structure] and [Nature]…at least in theory. But that didn't seem to fit the impression that Shirou got from the smith. Something he could use….

"Trace On."

Shirou held out his hand and concentrated. If he was going to do this then he would use the best sample he could. He thought about that item, the one that he still had but was unable to use. Unworthy of using. He thought about everything he had ever felt from it, everything he knew and poured it out into a flawed mould. A flash of silvery light later and he saw what he had made.

It was more….solid that prior attempts but still just a failure. Still hopefully it would be a useable one.

"Can you use this?"

The smith looked at the creation knowing full well what it was. An ether clump, a rather large ether clump with a rough shape to it. He took it from the boys' hands and studied it, tapping the material. Normally when one makes an ether clay by accident the result is something that can hardly be used but this seemed like it would make a decent prana conductor which would work with an amplification type mystic code.

Thinking it over, Daidara felt that the boy was onto something, it would be more general that he liked but that was needed to leave the boy room to grow and the result should be something worthwhile.

He gave the boy a grizzly grin and the father a short nod. Yeah he could work with this.

"It'll take a while; I'll need to get a proper mix of the steel with the clay before it's ready from the final enchantment. You'll have to take care of that though."

Kiritsugu nodded along while Shirou was wondering if he could go back to looking at the swords before they left. Asking his father with a look, he received a silent 'go ahead' and went off with a content smile. The magus saw as his son looked and when he thought they weren't looking touch the wares before turning his attention offhandedly to the smith.

"Ah can you add these to the mix?"

He handed over the small bag that Iri gave him and waited as the man looked over the components curiously.

"Say…you just want an Azoth Sword right?"

The question was justifiable, using this kind of ingredients were mostly reserved for more specialized codes. But….

"Shirou has a bit of trouble with his magecraft but he's stubborn about it. If you use this in his Code then…"

"Ah it should work more efficiently yeah I see…it just seems a bit much. I didn't expect someone like you to go and hold his hand."

Yeah this guy definitely wasn't your ordinary magus but still a helicopter parent was something amusing to see in the Moonlit World. Using organic ingredients for sword making reminded him a bit of family traditions but unlike his, the magus seemed to have opted for using the boy's primary teeth instead of just chopping off an arm and using that. Ah well different stroke for different folks and all that.

Now how to mix Teeth, Clay and Steel into something useful….Heh looks like he's finally got some inspiration for his art.

He went to the back of his shop where his tools where, leaving the two or rather the one to look around his wares for a while.

Shifting the crafting components, his calloused fingers ran along the side of the clay and felt a light indentation on it. Turning it over, he looked at the inscription on the flat side in curiosity. He did not know what it said, couldn't even say what language the thing was in but the letters seemed important for some reason.

They were…intriguing.

So before he did anything he took out a sheet of paper and stencilled the symbols with a spare piece of charcoal. They didn't mean anything special to him and while the boy didn't ask him to do it, Daidara already knew what to use them for. It's wasn't his style to leave any identify marks on his work but this wouldn't be just his work. After all, that boy would be in town for a while and besides he's never had an apprentice before.

* * *

Kiritsugu Emiya was not a man unfamiliar with being on the wrong side of the law. Now you might not see it but this was once a person who had engaged in what could be described lightly as unsanctioned military action on a global scale. He had been behind the scene of so many wrongs and had never been caught for his crimes.

Until now.

He looked silently as if somehow by staring he could cause the reality of the situation to disappear in a puff of smoke. Beside him, the son who had always been a kind child just looked at him in a manner that could only be called disappointed. No Shirou would not voice his thoughts and instead left his condemnation present but silent.

After several more minutes of denying stares, Kiritsugu snatched away the ticket left on his beloved SUV's window and turned away from the cruel wheel clamp that sealed it's movement.

"What it's for."

The toneless, disinterested voice almost made Kerry believe that his son did not harbor any feelings on the matter. Perhaps that's why he actually recited what was written on the ticket.

"For…Reckless Driving."

Shirou just took a breath through his nose and looked to the sky. He would not say it, his will was steel and he would not succumb to cheap blows. No matter how satisfying they would be.

"Sun's going down."

"Yes…yes it is."

Alright they could get the bags out of the car and hail a cab. Take a ride to a nearby hotel and stay there just like they originally planned. They had enough time.

Or he could just deal with the guy screwing with them.

Call it a well-honed battle-sense from years of wonderful marriage or his Eye of the Mind (Irisviel) but he knew when someone was messing with him.

And he knew just who it was.

Now he just had to look around and…

Ah yes, a black BMW just down the street, complete with waving chauffeur. God damn it Tohno, he did not have time for this crap. Well he did but he was trying to keep a low profile and meeting up with the defacto Second Owner was not low profile.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and silently motioned over the car in defeat.

"Shirou get the bags out of the car, we have….a ride."

* * *

**AN: More Emiya Manly Bonding Adventures! Where Kerry gives up and goes in the loving embrace of the Tohno's while Shirou awkwardly follows. And Daidara who I basically transplanted straight from Persona 4 and attached to a obsure bit of nasu tsuki fluff, he's not really important in the scheme of things but I think he works as a nice lead for Shirou. Did anyone check out the Typemoon april's fools? Just brilliant and with some nice artwork to boot. It even gave me a few more ideas to work with and the second season of Unlimited Budget Works is here! And Prisma's next season is right after! Plus a HF manga to coincide with the movie! Damn it's a good year to be a Fate fan. **


	12. 10-Vacation by Moonlight III

**Chapter Ten: Vacation by Moonlight (Part Three)**

Shirou opened and clenched his fingers before finally relaxing them in slightly loose and open fists aimed outwards. His body was already slightly lowered and his legs spread apart for the initial movement. It felt slightly uncomfortable to be holding the position but his body was already used to martial stances so it wasn't difficult to adjust.

"Hmm…not quite right, your stance is too ridged, it may look uncomfortable but things like the horse stance are the core. Baiquan's power come from the earth, if your stance can't channel that power then forget about not needing a 'second strike'. Remember that your elbows will be your main weapons as well. They're already tough but if you can't use them properly…"

Shirou nodded along to what his new gained tutor was telling him, even using mental skills to retain the words exactly and perform the necessary adjustments. It may be unfair in a way but his time in Misaki was pretty limited and the chance to pick up professional instruction that wasn't from Gaisuke's crazy dad couldn't be passed up.

He took a breath before shifting his entire body forwards with his fist straight out before pulling it back to strike the air with his elbow as his foot stamped on the ground. Completing the movement, Shirou kept his body in that stance as his head turned to look at his 'sensei' for commentary.

"Haa….it looks like it but an elbow-strike won't have the needed strength if your steps aren't correct. You need to practice your shinkyaku step more along with the horse stance. If you keep practice those core movements then you'll definitely get something worth remembering."

Shirou thought those words over as he held the horse stance, familiarizing his body with the position.

He could retain everything that he learnt here using his mental skills, but unless he grasped the nature of baiquan then all would be left was uncertain knowledge. He had seen what Sougen-san could do with a single polished movement; even a reinforced body would suffer major damage from a strike that did that level of internal damage.

Now he could understand how a base-line human could have a life with one step in the moonlit world even without some type of divine talent. Through ample self-study, technique can be refined. A genius can't construct a concept that transcends time and helps those without talent. If those who shine through their talent are the flowers of the tree then those who shine through their heritage become the trunk and nurture the tree.

Simply put having someone teach you is the faster way to improve. And since Shirou Emiya was someone who prioritized practicality over appearances, this chance could not be passed up no matter what.

He took a breath as he maintained the stance when his senses told him that a familiar person was approaching.

"Hey Shiki."

Shirou hide a smirk as the person stilled before giving a small chuckle.

"Man how do you do that? Am I tripping one of those…field things?"

He came out of his stance and turned to face the slightly older Tohno, whose blue eyes glanced to the waving Sougen enjoying a cup of tea before looking back at him.

"Sorry Shiki, the secrets of a magus must be hidden from the eyes of commoners."

Shirou easily recited one of Sella's more questionably worded phrases and gave a small smile at that returning scoff, it was unusual but he and Shiki has clicked rather quickly. That was probably because he reminded Shirou a bit of Gaisuke' boisterous nature.

"Bah keep your dusty secrets then, I just came to pick up some supplies from Jinan-san. Kohaku's experiments won't do themselves…at least not yet."

Shirou took a moment to remember Kohaku's more unusual interests since he had never seen it himself ,only heard it referenced. He hadn't spent much time with the twin maids though the two's interest in things like blades, cooking and video games did give them something to talk about. The Tohno estate was rather low tech and because it was a result of tradition, it was the maids who allowed to be an exception. So occasionally he would spend some time with them and while Shirou wasn't an expert in gaming, he did rather well since Ilya would often drag him into playing with her when Liz wasn't available.

"Oh yeah your dad said to call him when you're done. He needs you to pick up some ancient magi secrets that he left here."

Shirou had to hold back a sigh, his father had been tied up with Makihisa-san since they first came to stay at the estate so Shirou had been carried to places like Sougen and Daidara-san's by the Tohno's chauffeur. It wasn't a problem since he liked to go here to practice and listen to Daidara's stories of life back in Inaba and some of the special weapons that he crafted there. Unlike most smiths in japan, his knowledge of crafting encompassed styles from outside the country.

"_Here's the thing about forging a blade. Relentless hammering will only produce something hard yet __brittle. It may seem strong but a weapon like that will shatter easily if hit in the right…or rather wrong __place. Flexibility is important, weapons are for more than just bashing into things; a katana will snap like __a twig if you don't take advantage of the flexibility but even broadswords require finesse when wielding. __So at times you have to handle your work delicately or the product won't be flexible at all. It's the same __intersecting point that smiths have reached along across the world."_

Hearing the craftsman's knowledge of life in general, helped Shirou understand the effort that the man put into his work and would be putting into his own piece. Shirou didn't have many presents, especially not of this magnitude but he would definitely respect what went into asked Sougen-san for the phone as Shiki collect the supplies and put it in the car that brought him there.

"Ah Shirou, Daidara called and needs to know when we can apply the enchantment. I have a place herewith some of the books about them but it's sealed with a bounded field. You've gone over how to access those with Leysritt right?"

Taking down a bounded field not of one's own creation was difficult if you couldn't access or damage any of the focus points and required large amounts of careful manipulation but simply accessing it would be…

"Yes I could do that….but I wouldn't know how to break it down."

He really should learn though, since it would require mainly prana manipulation and his ether element would fare well with it.

"That's fine the field is already keyed into our family's prana so just feed it to disable the lock. Just be careful, Iri stored some stuff from her family there and I kept some….old tools there as well."

Namely guns, explosives and other such knick-knacks.

Kiritsugu gave some more details on where the storage area was, how to deactivate some other mundane traps that were laid inside and what the book actually looked like. Shirou noted the information and said goodbye before wondering why or rather when was his father able to key a bounded field to his prana in an area that he had not been to in years. Before Shirou Emiya ever started practicing the art of magecraft.

Shirou went soon went off with Shiki to what was essentially the warehouse district of Misaki. Shirou stayed silent but Shiki was fine with shooting the breeze and soon talked about how proud he was of some position that Ahika reached at her school and how she was growing up and didn't need her big brother anymore. He said a bit sarcastically but Shirou already knew that Shiki was a 'bit' of a softy for her. 'Ni' was much the same even though he was more passive about it than his older as he paid the needed amount of attention to Shiki's siscon behavior, part of his mind thought about what he had gathered from his father's words. Were his parents already aware of his magecraft potential? Did they neglect to inform him for the same reason that Ilya was left untaught? Yet this piece of information implied that they had assumed that he would be taught enough to access bounded something change? Was it in preparation of trouble that never came?

When they were dropped off Shirou was able to locate his father's storage unit with ease even without the faint scent that it gave off. It was very low powered, likely feeding of the ambient mana and even lacked any mental warding common with that type of magecraft that would warn away normal intruders and alert not so normal ones. But with a grasp he could easily see its presence from where they parked. As he stood at the Bounded Field's boundaries and began accessing it, Shiki watched with curiosity at first, then growing disappointment as no fancy beams or explosions happened when he was informed that the field was disappointment promptly disappeared once they went inside.

With an inordinate amount of glee,Shiki went to play with the arsenal of military equipment laid out on the walls. Shirou quietly disabled a set of fragmentation bombs that laid under the container, before heading to the section of the room that wasn't a survivalist wet dream. Some of the area was covered with mystic implements, containers and ingredients, even an azoth sword in the shape of a surgical knife that Shirou assumed was an Einzbern working. _Jubstacheit_

Shirou assumed that the book detailing the basic enchantment would be on the only shelf in the room and started looking through it, keeping an eye of Shiki who was holding the thankfully unloaded weapons. There were several large books that look handwritten and one that his prana sense told him was enchanted in some way which he ignored. Finally he found a book that matched the description he was given. He leafed through it and while the words were in german, Sella had taught him the language even before he learnt about magecraft, when he just wanted to know more about where all but one of his family came from. It was mainly a compendium of various useful and well known spells though it also covered the history of the initial creators of the workings.

Shirou left with the book after memorizing the relevant information on Azoth swords to improve his own knowledge of magecraft. Dissuading Shiki from taking any of his father's tools took a bit of doing and ended with Shirou pushing the slumping Tohno out.

"Man I wish my dad had a safehouse filled with bombs and guns but noooo he would say that I have to use traditional weapons."

Shirou dealt with Shiki's whining about what weapons he was allowed to use through the original way of dealing with problems. Ignoring them and hoping that they went away. The results were rather positive in Shirou's opinion though Shiki might be less pleased if he knew.

Shirou soon completed his task and gave his father the book before spending some time practicing Sougen's teachings. And while his body was practicing his mind was considering the information on the Azoth sword that the book contained. Some of it wasn't particularly important in a practical way, like who the creator of the enchantment was but Daidara's words made him have a new consideration for creators and what they put into their work. Like that azoth 'knife' that he saw earlier, who was made by someone that was technically part of his family even if he had never meet them. _centuries spent in wasted effort_

Thinking about such things in earnest, it was not strange that Shirou feel asleep that night dreaming of swords…and of one blade in particular.

* * *

_Complete White. A pure span of alien emptiness fills his eyes and he could not find a reason to care. Not of location or time or self, no axis to determine such things exists._

_As a result, he could not say how long he stood there if asked. Or why. Until a crack in the white appeared between one moment and the next._

_His mind could not grasp it, focus was impossible in a world that seemed to take everything he was and stretch it into meaninglessness._

_But there was meaning even if one had to make themselves._

_There was a shadow, a man. A man with a crack…or was it a twist in everything he was. He is red, in a way that would never fade. In a way that is both fitting and sad._

_Shirou did not speak, it was not his place or desire to. But when an arm reached out, he recoiled from that calloused hand so worn and yet so desperately empty. It was wrong, he didn't know why but what is meant was counter to everything he- _

_And before he can escape, a grip of steel is laid on his head, sealing his sight. Light has vanished, even bodily sensation can no longer be recognized. He sees only darkness and then as if to fill that void, he feels something pulled from his mind, from his self and the darkness is replaced with something more._

_A man, completely different from that aged shadow is now the only thing he could see. His stance in that simple white coat was relaxed and calm, fitting the peaceful look in his brown eyes. This man is not a warrior…no that is an incorrect Truth. _

_Where this man fights is not in a place of smoke and blood but somewhere different, yet he is certainly one that fights with stubborn will against the World._

_And so they were different._

_And so they were the same._

_The man smiles at the silent acknowledgement in golden eyes and raises a hand suited to books and papers. A hand that holds a thin cane-like sword that has never touched blood. _

_'To let me reach beyond limits even in times where power had degraded was its purpose. By fulfilling that in life so many were helped and so much was accomplished. I find it fitting as the symbol of my legacy….and wouldn't to be nice to see if it can still help even now._

_What do you think little blacksmith?'_

_He can't really find anything in a dazed mind to say, as the scholar with long black hair offers him the blade. Hands that seem too small to hold it reach out at the gift as he stays silent. What could he say but…_

_**'Thank You.'**_

_So he touches the hilt of the [Or-g-n-l]. Only for all to be consumed by a steel wind. Yet the man still smiles even as he was reduced to…no revealed as just a fragile reflection in a gust of shards._

_He holds the offered tool firmly and without fear, even as the searing wind now comes for him. He is lost and cannot see the way ahead but he would not look away. That was all that mattered through his cracked perception._

_And without hesitation or knowledge or reason, he swung the sword even as the wind forms into a shadow that was everything he was and was not. _

_All became a stark moment of emptiness. Complete White._

_White that twisted into heat. Burning heat._

_Burning him._

* * *

And he woke.

And the burning _remained_. Searing his mind and body.

He started from the guest bed given to him, before bending back in pain as conflicting feelings of fire from within and the cold outside air reached his senses. His circuits were burning, all twenty seven flaring in synchronicity and holding desperate amounts of power.

Gritting his teeth, he forced out the excess prana out of his hand and into the air. He was burning, his hand was melting and convulsing but he had to continue or risk a devastating rebound. He clamped down on his circuits, weakening the burning heat as they deactivated one by one.

Stumbling out of bed and onto the ground, Shirou opened a window and greedily gulped in the cold air. Pain from his hand still shot through his body and it felt strangely off center but Shirou didn't care. One's magic circuit's misfiring could end a magi's life…painfully. Especially for someone like him whose circuits were already low in quality.

He steadily tried to regulate his breathing and get his body back to normal, not daring to speak. His mind could bear the pain but if his body's capabilities worsened then it would be a problem.

It was only after his heart rate steadied that he realized the full extent of his body's spasm. It was when his ears finally picked out the soft but unnatural screeching emanating from his clenching fist. He stretched out his hand and observed it confusedly as the moonlit reflect off of his palm and the fibrous silver running through it in a vein like pattern, stained with blood from where it cut against his skin.

No…not silver, Steel. Steel that had been refined and tempered _inside_ his body. But for what purpose?

Sweat beading on his brow and rare uncertainty filling his mind, Shirou stayed awake until the moonlight faded and the sun rose thinking about that question.

* * *

**A/N: Whoa that chapter got kinda trippy in the last half huh? But it's basically Shirou in a dream, then half awake and in severe pain so some coherency was sacrificed. For those of you wondering about who that man Shirou saw was...well I think this makes me the first person to throw a Prototype: Fragments servant in a fic. Even if it was just as a reflection in a blade.**

**That last part, which is start of Shirou's offensive spells, was inspired by two things; Shirou's body of blades from HF and that dream sequence in UBW where his arm turns into a mess of swords. Now it's probably clear that Shirou is pretty strange in this fic and not just in a matter of what element or elements he might have. But hopefully I still managed to show some of his Shirouness despite the changes. If not give some advice on how to get better.**

**Oh yeah and Shiki or rather SHIKI is here! Yep I thought why keep the prisma happiness to just fate when I can make everyone's lives better. As for an explanation...let's just say that Kiritsugu and Iri had a transaction with Makihisa back when they were first coming to Japan and it turned out pretty well for both families (alchemy from a house that dates back the age of gods can be pretty useful when it's not wasted on a pointless war). The pre-canon tohno events are pretty much gone, except for the Nanaya because if Shirou's original family couldn't stay alive in prisma, there's no reason Shiki's should. The 'Ni' thing is me trying to make a rather basic Japanese linguistic pun. Protag Shiki is the second (ni) Shiki of the Tohnos and a brother(nii), yeah I know it's lame but it's the best i could do.**

**Next chapter should be the end of this little trip which kinda got a bit away from me. I know that I'm pretty slow paced and I'm considering merging some of the chapters together to make them a more satisfying read. I've already made the prologue a bit more substantial with some hepl from Fate Zero. But any Opinions or Advice?**

**As for this weeks UBW episode...I have nothing to say except this. In summer, Prisma will return and Gil better get ready for all the payback.**


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